Tuesday, March 18, 2003
Tuesday, March 18, 2003
For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich,
yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.
The article's authors struggled to understand. "What man gives up such power and prestige?"
they asked. "Put another way, what man walks out on a $350,000-per-year contract with 10
years remaining so that he can spend time with his wife and his God?" You may know that
McCartney draws no salary from PROMISE KEEPERS. This is important to say because many
people have grown quite cynical about those who lead many Christian movements.
Writing about the SPORTS ILLUSTRATED article Luis Palau notes that throughout the article
the authors used terms such as RADICAL, OUT OF HIS HEAD, CONSUMED, and, of course,
RELIGIOUS ZEALOT. Evidently, says Palau, the zeal that is such an asset for football coaches
is considered a liability for people with spiritual inclinations. A little bit of God is acceptable, but a
determination to seek God's will at all costs makes one an extremist.
(2
Corinthians 8.9
NRSV)
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED once published a profile of Bill McCartney, who had just resigned as
football coach at the University of Colorado. McCartney, 54, is the founder of PROMISE
KEEPERS, the fast-growing Christian men's movement. McCartney quit coaching, he said, to
spend more time with his wife. "I see an opportunity," he said, "to put everything on a back
burner and have a marriage become all it's capable of being."
God of extremes, help me to have a determination that radically seeks to follow you. Amen.
