Both my son and son-in-law would be surprised to learn that I even know who Stevie Johnson is.  Since I don’t keep up with sports like they do, I didn’t know until fairly recently that he plays for the Buffalo Bills.

What brought him to my attention were the repeated reports of a “certain catch” that he dropped in the end zone of a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.  The pass could not have been thrown any better.  It was, as athletes say from time to time, “right there.”  The catch would have won the game in overtime for the Bills, but it was not to be.  The ball was dropped and the game was won by the Steelers.

A couple of days later, I found out that Johnson posted the following “tweet” on Twitter:

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…

So — God is responsible for the dropped ball, huh?  And somebody who praises Him should never have anything negative with which to deal in their lives — right?

It seems to me that this athlete’s thoughts are not at all isolated.  In fact, they are representative of the thinking of a great many people today.  Far too many in our society have bought into what might be called “the religion guarantees success lie.”

According to this way of thinking, “religion” can be defined in almost any way, but “success” is defined as getting everything we want in every aspect of our lives.  We “win” in every aspect of our lives.  It’s “in the bag” merely because we acknowledge some sort of ‘higher being” and worship that being in some way (preferably of our own choosing).

As I understand it, tweets come and go.  What Mr. Johnson expressed will soon be forgotten.

However, there is a document that has stood the test of time.  Among many others along the same line, I find the following quotes in it:

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Tim. 3:12, ESV)

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that  the testing of your faith  produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4, ESV).

Those inspired quotes sort of give a different insight on “the game of life,” don’t they?

Jim Faughn