Another one bites the dust...

Today in my 7th grade GAP group from Westminster Academy we talked about the recently exploited "A-Rod" (Alex Rodriguez - NY Yankees 3rd baseman) steroid scandal.

Here is a man who has become a baseball icon, not to mention the highest paid player in the game. He was on track to become one of, if not, the best player of all time. He is a man of the fans, shining in the spotlight every time it's turned on. People from all over love him, idolize him and look to him as a true sports hero.

However, he has of late been accused by Sports Illustrated magazine of taking performance enhancing steroids. This should come as no surprise due to the ramped use of performance enhancing substances in professional sports today. But there was a surprise. Yet, it did not come from the fact that he took steroids as much as it did that he blatantly and publicly lied about it. When bluntly asked if he'd ever taken performance enhancing drugs of any sort, he told Katie Couric in an interview "NO." Now, after the publishing of SI's incriminating story A-Rod sat down with Peter Gammons of ESPN and admitted to taking enhancement drugs from 2001-2003.

And so goes the story... another one bites the dust.
Another hero has fallen and the public has seen it. The American icon has been shattered and his legacy now marred.

What are we to make of this? How are we to believe in heroes anymore if the great majority of them are falling all around us? Who are we to look to? Where are we to find hope?

These are the questions I posed to my 7th graders. Their answers ranged from "don't have heroes" to "look up to our parents" to "we must look to God." I think that the last of these 3 answers deserve some real attention in our day.

For, we must ultimately look to Jesus as our pure, perfect, true and amazing hero/savior. He is truth and cannot lie. He laid down His life and resurrected on the 3rd day, conquering death and sin in order that His hero/savior status be immortalized. He will never fall or fail us. He is the ultimate hero!!!

I also agree that this generation of young people need to look up to their parents. As such, parents need to be worthy of hero status. They need to be people of character, godliness, honesty and strength. Parents need to invest in their children, respecting them and giving of their time, energy and resources to building them up in the faith. This will never be done perfectly because no one is perfect, but it should be a matter of great concern.

All that being said... we at Gangway are here to help. We desire more than anything to see our days characterized by the words of Malachi's prophecy, saying:

"Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse."

(Mal. 4:5, 6)