Confession is good for the soul, so this is the part where I confess I've been frustrated over the past few years with all the commercials, conversations and even sermons that have mentioned how much we deserve something good. Even commercials on radio stations run by Christians playing music created by Christians to be heard by Christians stress how much we deserve their product. (Christian is a noun, not an adjective but that's a blog for another time.)
Well my slow burn turned into a small, short blaze last Sunday. It was the statement by John Geddert that became the straw that broke my camel's back. John Geddert is Jordyn Wieber's gymnastics coach. In case you've been boycotting the Olympics instead of Amazon or Chick-fil-A, Jordyn Wieber is the world all-around gymnastics champion. But in the Olympics Jordyn failed to make the individual all-around because she scored less than two of her USA teammates and the rules say only two competitors from each country can qualify for the individual all-around.
In the emotional aftermath of the day, which may excuse his poor choice of words, Coach Geddert said, "She has trained her entire life for this day and to have it turn out anything less than she deserves is going to be devastating."
Now as I reveal my response to this statement remember this has been building for a few years and this is nothing personal against Jordyn Wieber who obviously is an outstanding gymnast and probably a very nice person. But seriously, she got something less than she deserved? I thought gymnasts were scored on the basis of their current performance not on the basis of life-long training. I guess we can cancel future Olympics and simply award the medals to those who train their entire lives because they are the ones who deserve it.
Those athletes who devote themselves to life-long training aren't the only ones who are deserving, according to commercials and popular folklore.. We all deserve whatever it is we want. You deserve a break today. You deserve to have your crushing student loan forgiven even though you signed the agreement to pay it back. You deserve to declare bankruptcy even if you're in your current situation because of really bad choices. On the aforementioned radio station run by Christians the bankruptcy commercial even mentions that you can keep your boat, RV and SUV. To ease the pain I guess. You can't make this stuff up.)
I could go on but you stopped reading in the first paragraph so I'll just say this. I am so glad that God has NOT given me what I deserve, but instead He graciously, mercifully gave me life with Him. When the angels rebelled God did nothing to redeem them. He could have rightfully done the same with me. He didn't. And for that I am, literally, eternally grateful.
One last comment. Now that I've mentioned the word "deserve" it will amaze you how often you are going to hear the word "deserve" over the next few weeks. That's your reticular activator at work. It's the part of your brain that notices some things and ignores others so you don't go crazy with all the information coming at you. Now that I've highlighted the word "deserve" you will notice it everywhere, kind of like when you get a new car and notice how many others own the same one. I was going to apologize for activating your reticular activator, but hey, you deserve it.
