God, Twitter, and Dropped Touchdown Passes

Yesterday, the Buffalo Bills lost a heartbreaking game to the Pittsburgh Steelers.  It was heartbreaking in part because they have only won twice so far this season and were such underdogs, but even more so because they seemingly had the game won in overtime.  That is when the apparent 40 yard game-winning touchdown pass went sailing toward a wide open Stevie Johnson in the end zone.  The Bills had won and Johnson was the hero.  Except he dropped the pass and the Steelers went on to win the game.

I've been a (rather passionate) sports fan my whole life.  I understand the disappointment that a player must feel in the aftermath of a moment such as this.  Even so, I was saddened to see this morning that Johnson had tweeted, "I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO..."

I had a couple reactions to Johnson's tweet.  First of all, I feel bad for Johnson.  The flip side of the stardom we accord athletes is that their failures, every bit as much as their successes, are on view for all the world to see.  And we definitely make too much of both.  That being said, the theologian in my cringed as Johnson portrayed to the world a theology that is decidedly "un-Christian."  I've covered the whole argument of whether or not God cares who wins ballgames before, and I can't help to think that it would have benefitted Johnson to have read that post, or at least to have watched the embedded video.

May we all, while wholeheartedly affirming the sovereignty of God, take responsibility for our own actions (it was, after all, Johnson who failed to catch the ball).  And may we in the face of life's difficulties react like a faithful man of old, who, having lost much more than a football game responded in Job 1:21, "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."