The ‘Lance’ in You, is the ‘Lance’ in Me

When you hear stories of athletes who were mogul in the eyes of many, have a sudden fall, many feel robbed, hurt, and disappointed.

The recent turn in the story of Lance Armstrong, is not anything less of a disappointment to his audience, athletes, and to the game of Sport.

Every time you watched the Nike commercial starring Lance, you would find him defining who he is, despite of his many allegations over a long period of time. Many of his fans held out hope that he really was the Mogul we had all thought that he was.

Needless to say, his choices have really impacted the people around him, especially when he clearly explained some of his stance on Oprah.   It is a tragedy that many had to be involved and affected by the actions of one man.

CNN recently had the wife of his former Teammate on, people who were villanized all these years by Armstrong and his camp for simply telling the truth.

At the end I feel bad for everyone who was either directly or indirectly affected by this tragedy, and ultimately, I do feel bad for Lance.

Why? Because the truth is that there is a Lance in all of us.  We all face many of the same temptations he struggled with.

Sometimes I’m tempted to preach a message on a topic, that makes me look that I got it all figured out.

There are times me and wife would get into a heated argument just prior to us attending a Church service, and as soon as I arrived, I felt the need to put on a performance that everything was absolutely fine.

If we’re honest, we would say that we often feel the need to make ourselves appear more knowledgeable, well-suited, well-performed, and, in control of our lives around our friends, than we actually are.

While authenticity is the cry of all, sometime many fail to be real in their pursuit to become authentic.

Because if our authenticity derives out of our acceptance to be liked by others, by an image that we portray, it will not only exhaust us, it will also keep you from looking into the face of the One whom we should be living our lives for.

In the Book of Matthew alone, Jesus used the word ‘hypocrite’ seven times to bring out a greater reality of those who willfully pretended to be someone different from who they really were in the eyes of the public, but yet lacked the character of that image.

The word ‘hypocrite’ comes from a Greek word meaning ‘an actor, one who wears a mask.’ In Greek theatres an actor might wear a mask of comedy in one scene, and then in the next scene a mask of tragedy. One actor, two faces.

A hypocrite is someone who does not practice what they preach. He is a counterfeit. At first glance he looks real but after further investigation he is found to be phony.

Do you know why so few people live authentically? Because it takes tremendous courage. You are constantly bombarded by a culture that is doing its best: day and night, to make you anybody, but yourself.  Letting go of who we think we’re supposed to be, and embracing who we are is one of the most courageous battles that we’ll ever fight.

But instead of being courageous in finding our authenticity we find ourselves naturally in the position of becoming Hypocrites.  Today, many would say that the Church is full of ‘hypocrites’, but the danger is not limited to the Church alone, but to a Culture that lacks true authenticity.

I am reminded of a profound scripture in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that states:

that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

This verse reminds me that the starting point to being authentic is to begin with Christ. We are to let go of the life that we have allowed the culture to not only create, but then in turn impress, and find our new identity in the One who specializes in Originals.