I once had a friend who was a nationally elite wrestler and with Olympic caliber talent. His junior year, he was ranked number one in the nation and was picked to win the national title for his weight division. He lost. Over the summer he found Jesus, was baptized, and began going public with his faith. He talked about renewed strength and sharing his faith with anyone who might listen, including the news media. When he entered his final season as a senior, he was again ranked number one in the nation, and with his renewed faith, he believed his future was secure. Once again, he lost, dragging him into a crisis of faith. He had a stage to bring glory to God, and the stage was taken from him. Why wouldn’t God endorse his win in order to receive the glory for it?
A couple of weeks ago the Philadelphia Eagles won their first Superbowl. Heading into the big game, reports surfaced that Nick Foles was a man of faith, that the Eagles conducted regular Bible studies, and videos surfaced of members of the team participating in baptisms. They had a stage to bring glory to God, and the stage was elevated during and following their championship win.
Tim Tebow was the evangelical/Christian hero. Born to missionary parents, he was given a gift for football and a powerfully vocal faith in Jesus. Written on his Eye Black was his favorite verse for the day, and often it was John 3:16. Every touchdown he made was immediately followed by a prayer on his knee. What is amazing is that the quality of Tim Tebow’s character should have made him the perfect candidate for God to place him on the largest stage. Yet many wonder why God allowed that stage to allude him?
Wednesday an American Icon passed away. He was given the largest stage when he preached to thousands upon thousands (if not to millions) of people. He sat with every sitting president since Truman. He was never caught up in a moral or ethical scandal, though he did compromise himself with President Nixon (he did beg the Jewish community forgiveness). He was born for the big stage and he lived his life to glory God on that stage.
We’ve convinced ourselves that the successful athlete, business man, politician, or performer, author – who is also a Christian – is the one God uses to make the biggest impact for the kingdom. We believe that the best advertisement for God is to market the Christian who is defined by success based on our terms: status, wealth, appearance, charisma, etc.
Somehow, God sees things a little differently. On the worlds’ biggest staged he placed a cross.
In the process of calling Saul (Acts 9), God had a conversation with Ananias. God wanted Ananias to meet with Saul to restore his sight. Ananias was a little fearful since Saul had been persecuting the church. But God reassured Ananias, and among the information given to Ananias comes this little line, “I will show him (i.e. Saul/Paul) how much he must suffer for my name.” God was going to put Saul on the biggest stage and show the world how much he had to suffer for Jesus.
Second Corinthians is essentially Paul’s argument that the greatest stage God can give someone is the stage where their weakness is exposed and they suffer the most. So Paul records his “Affliction Lists” (4:8-10; 6:3-10; 11:23-29), saying that God does his greatest work through our suffering. The strength that Paul experiences is not the ability to avoid walking outside the realm of suffering, but the strength to endure the very heart of suffering because God empowers him (4:7). For it is through our weaknesses, not our strengths, that Christ’s power is made perfect in us (12:8-10).
So maybe we’ve got the stage thing all wrong. Maybe those on the big stage can’t always be trusted with the spotlight; how many people, we’ve propped up, have “fallen” off the big stage? Maybe the suffering stage keeps us closer to the cross. Maybe the suffering stage gives God greater glory, for the power to endure hardships clearly comes from God not from within. Maybe the church should start questioning who we’ve decided to prop up onto the stage, and why we’ve chosen them. Instead, maybe we should look for the ones who’ve modeled faithful endurance in the face of suffering, because they are more likely the ones God wants on stage.
Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is Glorified!)