Walking the fine Line

 

Being a Christian and playing sports is an interesting journey but a very beautiful one. Many Christian find it tough to wear their faith on their sleeve and allow others around them who are not Christian see who they are and what they stand for while walking the fine line. Some may question why it is a fine line, it is fairly simple. Most who do not practice or attempt to wear their religion on their sleeve have a little less to lose as far as expectations. If you never promote or let the world know what your beliefs are when it comes to religion many cannot judge you from that area in your life. I will be the first to profess that I have many flaws just like some of my other Christian friends. I have sinned, cussed, said unkind things to and about people and the list goes on and on for my shortcomings. Yet I strive daily to improve on my failures, I make an honest effort to treat everyone with kindness, and respect. I believe we all should aim for this, in my book this is a fairly easy one if you have love inside you. Typically we produce what is flowing within us. It takes a large amount of energy to treat someone nasty, say untrue and unkind things about them, and hold a grudge towards them. Think about how much effort that takes. Why waste this type of energy when it can be used towards love, kindness and respect. It feels better to love, smile, and treat people nice. If you do not believe me try it for a few days, not just with people you like but with the people you dislike as well. You can do it, I have done it many times before and felt so much better after and during the process.

Once while competing I was attacked regarding my religion by a competitor. The individual told me “if you are a real man of God you will do this or that”. It caught me off guard and shocked me that I was being attacked regarding my beliefs and what I stand for. I played it cool and continued being calm and collected my thoughts during the heated discussion and never cracked although I was being pushed and challenged. As a fierce competitor I pride myself on being respectful and not crossing that fine line which can easily be crossed. As Christians we have to be the light and the salt of the earth according to the bible. In my opinon this simply means doing things the right way and setting the tone for how things should be done. Being this at all times is extremely tough while competing because nasty things are said and done in competition it is not the place for the weak or soft. I once was told by a very talented competitior last year "do you want to crash, ok that's better". It was one of the weirdest things, because I would never use that as a tatic. It came across as threat. I can't even understand that thought process but when you have a bunch of talented and very hungry men going after the same prize this raise the intensity to a whole other level and nasty things are said and unseen by those not in the event. This is the beauty of competition, and walking the fine line when challenged. 

How do I say centered in such an intense environment? One of my keys to remaining strong during these intense moments is my ability to stay calm, I also carry my faith with me at all times. Each time I am in battle I know God is with me, and I know my prayers and my Mother prayers do not go unanswered. My mom do not tell me she praying for me consistently but I know she is because of the things I have encountered not just in competition but while out on a leisure ride, riding into work, and training along the coast and in the hills of the Santa Monica Mountains

, and switchbacks of Palos Verdes, Ca. I should have been injured badly several times but I am certain it is the prayers I pray for myself and all of my friends and fellow cyclist that have kept me safe.

Recently I was asked by a close friend of more than 20yrs who does not ride but is a Christian. “Do you share the gospel with your cycling friends”. My response was no, I try to just let my personality and my actions do that for me. I have never been the type to push Christ on anyone, it can be uncomfortable for some and I actully feel a little weird doing so with all my failures and shortcomings. Now if someone was to ask me about Christ or prayer I would be more than willing to talk. My friend later said "I have been given this platform through my success it should be used to share the Gospel". Often I am faced with challenges like this, I question some of them and some I just continue to move past without applying much thought to them at all. 

This blog was somewhat inspired by an article I was reading recently on Stephan Curry of the Golden State Warriors. He is a Christian that excels greatly against the top NBA players in the world. In fact he was voted as the top NBA player for this season. It is interesting how we all are placed in different positions for success and often we just go about ourlives without uplifting, inspring, and pulling the next guy or girl up. As a human being I want to do more always, I strive to do better despite how tough the struggle is to do right with so much temptation, and craziness going on around me. 

I hope you enjoyed this blog about me walking the fine line. I look forward to sharing more writings with you as they come to mind. Keep fighting the good fight, give your all, never lose hope, and never stop beliving in yourself. GB