Why Everyone Needs A Lance Armstrong Moment

Let's get the obvious out of the way. 

• Lance lied.
• Lance cheated.
• Lance fell in love with his perception of control over his life.
• Lance intimidated, mocked, and ruined the reputations of others to protect his lies.

Lance said several things during his interview that I found to be very revealing: 

• It was truly win at all costs. 

• I was used to controlling everything in my life, every aspect.

• Anger. Betrayal. Disappointment. 

• I will spend the ready of my life trying to gain their trust back. 

Despite what you might think, even the best of us aren't much different than Lance. In fact, one of Christ's closest followers shares one of Lance's most prominent shortcomings. Lying.

In Mark 14, Peter does what many would consider unthinkable; He publicly denied Jesus while Jesus himself was in the room! He did it 3 times! Lying in front of Jesus is bad, like 2 foot-long chili-dogs before an aerobics class bad, but what makes it even worse are Peter's previous statements about lying. 

 In Mark 14:31, Peter boldly states "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you". And then he does it. He denies Jesus the very night he swears he never will.  Why? To protect himself from certain death. For Peter, it was truly live at all costs. Sound familiar?

I can't make St. Peter out to be the only liar, and none of us should make Lance out to be the only liar. Neither Peter nor Lance has a monopoly on their bad traits. Let's take...me. Any why not you? How about every red-blooded citizen of Earth? 

Try speaking these words without lying:

I have never tried to control something so obviously out of my control. 

How did that go? Not so well? Thought so.

For those of you who could use some truth, admit that you fight against God for control. Despite God's obvious power and might (remember that creating the universe bit He did awhile back?) your actions reveal that you think you can run your life better than He can. Admit that you too struggle with control issues.

I could go on with parallels, but I want to get to the most powerful words I heard last night. 

What Lance did was wrong. Lying is wrong. Cheating is wrong. The way he treated others who tried to expose him is wrong. But, he (finally) admitted it last night, 

"I am flawed. Deeply flawed".

He has admitted the truth.

Jesus wants very little from us in return for so very much. He wants us to come to Him and say "I am flawed. Deeply flawed. I need your help. Come into my life and take control. I love  you". In return, we receive eternal life. Nice deal, huh?

Many of us have no problem with loving Jesus. It's relinquishing control and admitting fault that most people struggle with. Without those two things, complete surrender to Christ is impossible, and without surrender, salvation is impossible.  

Take a minute to consider your actions, all of them, thoughts included. Consider them how God might consider them. If you're honest, you won't like what you find. 

Maybe you should think about sitting down and confessing a few things. Maybe you and God need to have a Lance-Oprah type conversation. I doubt it will air OWN, but they'll be running reruns of it in heaven for centuries to come. Trust me, you'll get tons more viewers!