Why do we do this...

Why are we as people so quick to 1- assume the worst and 2- find joy when the worst turns out to be true and 3- find joy out of tearing people down and 4- only enjoy tearing people down when they are on top...

My heart breaks for Cam Newton right now, and surprisingly, not because I'm an Auburn fan. Two years ago barely anyone in this country knew his name. Now you would be hard pressed to find someone that didn't know his name. I am the first to admit I missed most of this football season due to wedding stuff; however, I know in July I had no idea who Cam Newton was and now I know exactly who he is. Let me go back to my points about why this is so hard for me to wrap my head around.

1- Every story in the book has come out about why he isn't eligible to play and why he is a bad person and immoral and has no ethics and he was bad in school, etc. We have all made mistakes. Not every mistake in his past has the opportunity to make him ineligible to play NCAA football; yet, people are talking about them anyway as if every single story is true. We as a people automatically assume the worst.

2- Deep down for some and for some you don't have to dig that deep, a lot of people want these stories to be true. For different reasons that they hide under a matter of "fairness." Why do people find joy in destroying a 21 year old's name, reputation, college experience, and possible career? Whether this was all true or all false, this should be somethting that we all sat down and hoped and prayed that it wasn't true because we should build eachother up and not tear eachother down. It is just football, it is just a game, and there is always another season. Sadly, some people want this to be true just because they don't want Auburn to be good or win the SEC or win the NCAA title. Putting all of my Auburn ties aside, that is incredibly sad.

3- Explained in point #2

4- Remember these people are all talking about things that a year and two years ago... If Cam Newton hadn't been a good quarterback at Auburn and just been a mediocre player and we had a mediocre season, would we still be hearing all this talk? NO! We wait until someone is at the top, leading a team towards the NCAA Title, front-runner for the Heisman Trophy, at what I would guess is one of the happiest moments in his life, truly living on top of that Ivory tower and then (not a moment before) we jump in and are ready to watch that tower crumble.

Overall, it breaks my heart to watch people around find such joy in the possibility that this college kid's life could tumble down around him. What happened to seeing the best in people, what happened to innocent until proven guilty?

Just my thoughts on the matter...
But at the end of the day as an Auburn fan I will quote words straight from Cam Newton's mouth...

"When God be blessin', the Devil be messin'" - Cam Newton

Hands and Feet...

As Christians we're called to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Serving has been thrown at me constantly since we returned from Hawaii. We got back and Saturday morning our church had a Mission Day where about 350 volunteers went out and served in different areas of our community. Chris and I went out to Common Ground- speechless is the word. I had heard about the Ministry, met the founders before and heard them talk, heard about tons of people going out there. I had never actually gone out there myself until Sunday. It was incredible, the ministry is awesome, the kids are incredible, and it has been on my heart ever since. I urge you to go to their website and then check out the links that take you to some of the staff member's blogs- they are truly incredible!
Common Ground Montgomery

Then, Sunday our Pastor Lester preached on a book by a local well-known Pastor John Ed Mathison. John Ed's book is entitled Treasures of the Transformed Life and this week the topic was on "Giving a Drink to Others." Lester spoke about the different opportunities we have to serve and remembering that we are called to serve. He had people in our church who had passions in different missions come up and talk about their missions and how to get involved. I heard ya God- we need to be servants. We need to be your hands and feet.

It only continues and this is what got me the most. My small group at church is reading a book called Radical by David Platt who pastors a church in Birmingham, Alabama. Incredible book that pushes you and makes you look at things in a completely different light. The chapter I read last night was also about Serving. It took on an interesting debate about whether people all over the world who have never heard the Gospel go to Hell since they do not have faith in Christ. He went at it from every different answer and left you with the call to go. There are 1.5 billion people in this world who haven't heard the Gospel and don't know the love of Christ. Wow. Most people reading this heard the Gospel sometime between 1 and 5 years old and then who knows how many times after that. It just left me thinking, what can I do? How can I make a difference? What can I sacrifice for someone's SALVATION? What is bigger than that? A better question, what can I NOT sacrifice for someone's salvation?

I don't have the book next to me at the moment to quote this exactly; however, one of the most interesting points to me was this... God is above all, he is the ultimate healer, giver, he is powerful, he is strong, he can do all. So he could put the words of the Gospel written across the sky. That isn't what he chose to do though. Instead, he called us to share His word and share His love. What good are we as Christians if all we do is sit around with other Christians and learn more about our Faith when there are so many who know nothing about it?

I know that was all serious, but at the same time it is just some interesting thoughts.