"Talent is God-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful." John Wooden
'I am a servant, I am listening for my name' - Larry Norman's classic Christian ballad about humility and reverence in God's presence is timeless. The apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians in chapter 3, "Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”; and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God. (vs. 18-23)" In the news recently we have our political leaders, whether Liberal or Conservative, no matter what label they are attached to, are quibbling and finger-pointing while the regular and common folk suffer, while they all believe they are the smartest one in the room.
We recently have heard men paid to talk on radio and TV vilifying a woman for being on a committee for College Football improvements. The article is here In a related topic, a pitcher in the playoffs verbally attacked a reporter/analyst for his assessment of said pitcher, saying no one should say anything unless they played the game. The article is found here While a former or current player has a specific and intrinsic point of view, there are others who are around the game on a full time basis, and have eyes and a brain and can make an evaluation. There are many Managers/Coaches that never played at the level they are coaching. Therefore, there are people who can evaluate, elucidate, or extrapolate without benefit of personal, hands-on experience. So why even create these issues? Ego, conceit, self-importance.
Our government leaders often act like they forget how they got there and who is their boss - Power does corrupt. O.J. Simpson, Aaron Hernandez (allegedly), Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Jayson Williams, Leonard Little, and Von Miller are just a tiny speck of examples of athletes who were so spoiled growing up because of their size and talent that skewed their perspective to allow them to think they were above all laws. I know some who struggle with believing that God is in control, and that we need to seek Him in all we do.
Oliver Wendell Holmes said "Some people are so heavenly minded they of no earthly good." There are a handful of exceptions, but The more heavenly minded you get doesn't mean more aloof or detached from society. In fact if one truly has heaven and following Christ on their mind, they are more like he was - engaged with the people, shining the Light, given to lead not sit alone in the corner. The apostle Paul definitely disagrees with Mr. Holmes, "for the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight."
