There is a new #7 in town. I waited for a while now to respond to the Michael Vick situation, but I figured it was time.
Everyone knows I love the Eagles. Everyone knows I love my dog. But the Michael Vick controversy is about him playing a game and about his crime. It is about our response to it. I love watching people say how he deserves a second chance, but then put conditions upon it.
'Well, as long as it is not for my team... or he can be a landscaper, but he shouldn't be allowed back in the NFL.'
It has forced us as Christians to look at what forgiveness is and how far we are willing to extend it. The issue is that the Philadelphia Eagles have shown more morality and Christlike character than the church has. I don't want my favorite team to take the first step in doing what is right. That is great and all, but it isn't their role. It is mine.
So people can stand on the street corner with pictures of this and that, and slogans like, "Hide your beagle, Vick's and Eagle", but the question we all have to wrestle with is whether or not we would deserve a second chance. I am glad God isn't like us in this respect. I don't understand why God forgives and continues to reveal his faithfulness to us. God has given me more than a second chance, so why would I not be willing to forgive others?
Look- what he did was absolutely terrible. You can't get around that. But I can't call myself a follower of Christ and extend nothing but a cold shoulder to Vick or anyone else. Forgiveness is not easy or simple for us it seems. We cannot let go of our own agendas or frailties in order to look at someone the way God would.
These are just some of my thoughts for now. It is a thought provoking and heart stirring issue. Hard to deal with.
