Personal Faith in the Public Arena

On Sunday, May 2oth, Sean Keeler reported in the Des Moines Register that new Iowa State Head Football Coach Gene Chizik told a group that he was seeking a full-time Chaplin for the football team.

Keeler also reported that Athletic Director Jamie Pollard supported Chizik. Pollard also was quoted as saying that the Chaplin's counsel "will be provided to only those who desire it, by an outside agency, not a state employee." Further, Pollard said that "The position is being completely funded by donations made by private individuals."

The Des Moines Register's Sean Keeler then wrote, "You have to be careful. Faith, to many folks, is a very personal thing. Iowa State is a very public institution."

What Keeler does not understand is a concept taught to me by Doug Cecil, who headed the Alumni Office at Dallas Seminary (www.dts.edu) until recently. Cecil helped me to understand, and better be able to communicate that a Christian's faith is personal--but it is not private.

My faith or your faith or the faith of your forefathers is indeed a personal possession acquired through individual trust in the death and resurrection of Jesus. It is not a group or family possession. And the stories of how different individuals came to accept and own that faith is as varied as can be. How you got to that place in your journey is indeed personal. It is not private.

If you have that personal faith, you are called to be a witness to that fact. In the Bible, Jesus tells those who have that personal faith, "You will be my witnesses..." Being a witness means to testify to what you have seen, experienced, or know to be true. If you have a personal faith in Jesus, it cannot be private.

I would hope that more writers would come to understand the semantic difference between personal and private. I also hope that more witnesses would be encouraged to share their personal faith in the public arena.

More than a "Bad Choice"

About a week ago I was saddened by the news that St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock died when his car struck a tow truck that had stopped on Interstate 64 in St. Louis.

I immediately assumed that he had to be drunk off his gourd to run into a parked tow truck. However some friends said they heard alcohol was not a factor. Then I thought we live in what Guy Gray (Riverwest.org) often calls "a broken world."

Later police reports indicated that Hancock was "legally intoxicated" and had nearly twice Missouri's legal blood-alcohol level. St. Louis Cardinals General Manager Walt Jockety said it was "a bad decision" for Hancock to drink and drive.

First, if Hancock had not been drinking, his tragic death would have reminded me that we do live in a broken world. Even if you have no faith-base you still have to admit that sometimes life sucks (the life out of you.) That things should be better than you experience. In the world of Christian faith it is termed the Fall. Sin, death and Satan entered the world and messed up the paradise God created. Now life is hard and bad things happen. My Bible says that Satan prowls around seeking who to devour (1Peter 5.8). If Hancock had died in a tragic accident I would have been sadly reminded of this fact.

Second, however, Hancock made more than a "bad decision." It was a tragic decision...a horrific decision...it was a fatal decision. What Jockety failed to mention is that we are responsible for our decisions...that there are consequences for our decisions and actions. Even if you simply believe that this life is all there is, you recognize that this is how the world works. You understand the reality of life in a broken world and live how you choose. Eugene Peterson in The Message (Hosea 8.7) likens this to planting seeds of wind and harvesting tornadoes. In the life of faith, in contrast, you have a choice...

The death of Josh Hancock brought reminders of another Cardinal's pitcher, Darryl Kyle, who died suddenly in 2002. Kile died of a heart attack at the age of 33, a victim of living in a broken world. Hancock died from harvesting a tornado.