Lance Armstrong has been in the news a lot these days. Not knowing more than the average person regarding his story, I’ve been reading articles about him and stumbled upon these quotes of his regarding religion:
From TIME magazine:
“I don’t have anything against organized religion per se. We all need something in our lives. I personally just have not accepted that belief. But I’m one of the few.”
From his book It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life (bolding mine):
“I asked myself what I believed. I had never prayed a lot. I hoped hard, I wished hard, but I didn’t pray. I had developed a certain distrust of organized religion growing up, but I felt I had the capacity to be a spiritual person, and to hold some fervent beliefs. Quite simply, I believed I had a responsibility to be a good person, and that meant fair, honest, hardworking, and honorable.”
[…]
I wished hard, but I didn’t pray. I had developed a certain distrust of organized religion growing up, but I felt I had the capacity to be a spiritual person, and to hold some fervent beliefs. Quite simply, I believed I had a responsiblity to be a good person, and that meant fair, honest, hardworking, and honorable. If I did that, if I was good to my family, true to my friends, if I gave back to my community or to some cause, if I wasn’t a liar, a cheat, or a thief, then I believed that should be enough. At the end of the day, if there was indeed some Body or presence standing there to judge me, I hoped I would be judged on whether I had lived a true life, not on whether I believed in a certain book, or whether I’d been baptized. If there was indeed a God at the end of my days, I hoped he didn’t say, “But you were never a Christian, so you’re going the other way from heaven.” If so, I was going to reply, “You know what? You’re right. Fine.”
I can certainly understand someone’s hesitations with religion (as I was that person for 18 years of my life). In this last quote though, Lance acknowledges that if there is a higher power and he is to be judged, that he would rely upon his true life. In other words, he would rely upon his works for salvation.
I wonder how he would state his beliefs now in light of his recent admissions? Does he still stand on his works?
I don’t mean to kick a man when he’s down but it’s a question worth asking. When in moral failure, those operating out of self-righteousness (I should know as I still struggle with this) are faced with two options:
1. Rationalize the failure. You employ strategies of laying blame on someone else, minimizing the indiscretion, or attacking the credibility of your accusers.
2. Admit your faulty belief system. No matter how good you are, you can never live up even to your own standards. You have to admit that your good works are never good enough.
In reading the transcripts of the interviews, it seems as if Lance has chosen option #1. I hope and pray that through Lance’s brokenness that God would meet him there and Lance would see the good news of grace and forgiveness.
