Well, as I'm sure you have all heard by now, the bottom has really fallen out for Lance Armstrong. Not only did the US anti-doping agency stripped him of his seven Tour de France titles, and ban him from all sanctioned competition, but nine out of ten sponsors (as of this writing) have dropped him from their payroll. It is estimated that that could cost Armstrong upwards of $30 million a year in sponsorship revenue.
To this day, Lance Armstrong denies that he ever took any performance-enhancing drugs and that he passed every drug test administered to him. Now I will be the first to admit, that I have not read every page of the report that the anti-doping agency put out, but from the few pages I have read, the evidence against Armstrong looks very damning indeed.
The eyewitness accounts of former teammates and colleagues certainly paint a grim picture of life inside the pro peloton in general, and the inner workings of Armstrong's teams in particular.
Back in the heyday of 1999 to 2005, when Lance was winning his seven titles, I was a huge fan. I had the posters, I had the books, I devoured every article I could find on the man, both in print and online. For three weeks in July, all I could talk about was Lance, Lance, Lance. Needless to say, it drove my wife nuts. When the topic of doping would arise, I would always answer any criticism with the comeback "Hey, he's clean. He hasn't failed a drug test yet." Despite the mounting pile of evidence, I stuck to my guns and defended Lance at every turn.
I was overjoyed when the US government's case against Lance fell apart a couple of years ago. in my mind, that just proves what I knew all along, that Lance was clean and everyone who accused him of doping was jealous. And yes, like a lot of other Lance supporters, I was curious when the new charges were brought against him by the US anti-doping agency. But as details of the investigation began to leak out, my view began to change. I began to have my doubts, despite Lance's continued denial. It appeared there was just too much evidence, too many eyewitnesses, to believe any longer that Lance had been writing clean for all of those years. In my mind, the day that Lance said that he was not going to fight the charges any longer, and was not going to appeal the agency's decision to strip him of his titles and ban him from competition, was the day he admitted to doping while not coming right out and admitting that he did so. To say I was very disappointed in the man would be a huge understatement and I'm sure a lot of other of his fans felt the same way as I.
Now I suppose you're wondering what Lance Armstrong, and cyclists in general, have in common with preachers. Well, I'll tell you. Both will let you down. I know in some church cultures, the people of the congregation look up to the preacher, or as some people call them, the "man of God." They see the preacher as a wise man, one who knows what is best for them. Yeah, I know, I'm broad brushing here a little bit, but I'm trying to make a point. We place these men upon pedestals, thinking they are great individuals. Sometimes what we fail to realize is that they are indeed men, prone to failings, just like us "mere mortals." in the case of professional cyclists, it's the temptation to take illegal performance-enhancing drugs just so they can pedal harder than the next cyclist so they can win the race. For preachers, while I'm sure the temptations are many, it seems like the most common temptation is the temptation to cheat on their spouse; usually with a member of their own congregation.
What am I getting at? That we should put no individual up on a pedestal, for in time, they will fail in one way or another. And when they do, we will be disappointed. Sure, it's okay to admire the skills of an athlete or the knowledge and speaking skills of a preacher, but that's as far as it should go; admiration. There is only one person that deserves the honor of being placed upon a pedestal, and that man is Jesus Christ. He is the perfect man; the perfect Son of God. He is the only one that will never fail our expectations. "Heroes" like Lance Armstrong or the preacher at your church, space or your favorite television preacher or teacher will come and go, but Jesus Christ, as it says in Hebrews 13:8, "is the same yesterday, today and forever." That is whom I will place my trust, in whom I shall never be disappointed.
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