T.O. Needs Jesus Too

I guess in some ways I am just a masochist.  On my computer I have a widget called the “Cheesesteak of Suffering.”  As I type this, the counter stands at 8528, 11 hours, 47 minutes and 42 seconds since the Sixers won the 1983 NBA championship.  Again, I’m not even sure why I have it on my computer since all it does is remind me that since I’ve been old enough to be a sports fan, Philadelphia has not won even a single major sports championship.  I have never felt the jubilation of running into the streets to celebrate a championship.  In fact, my deepest sports passion is for the losingest team in professional sports history, the Phillies.  The Phillies have lost 9954 games in their history which dates back to 1883.  That means that sometime next year the Phillies will lose their 10,000th game!  In 123 years, the Phillies have won exactly one World Series while the Marlins have won 2 World Series since their inception in 1993.  With 5 games left this season, the Phillies sit at 7 games over .500 meaning that this will be the 26th time since 1918 the Phillies have finished the season with a winning record.  For reference, the Yankees have won that many World Series in that time span!

Two years ago that painful streak of championship-less seasons almost ended for Philly fans.  The Eagles made it to the Super Bowl (mind you, for only the second time since in the then 39 years of the Super Bowl).  With the nearly miraculous recovery of their star receiver, I was actually thinking the Eagles would win.

They lost the game and, well, we all know what happened after that.  That star receiver, T.O., lost his mind.  He fired his agent and hired Drew Rosenhaus to get him a new deal with the Eagles.  The Eagles wouldn’t budge (why would they just one year into a 7 year contract?).  After being suspended four games and deactivated for the remainder of the season, they let him go.  He promptly signs on with a team that he had very publicly scorned and mocked just a few years earlier when with the 49ers.  Every 49ers and every Eagles fan knew that his self-centered, self-glorifying, me-first attitude would destroy the Cowboys as he had his former teams.  But no one, myself included, foresaw what happened last night.  Apparently, he was so depressed that he attempted suicide by overdosing on prescription pain medication.  When asked by police if he was attempting to harm himself by taking the pills he simply replied, “Yes.”

He has now been released from the hospital and I’m sure over the next several days we’ll find out more about what really happened, but this incident really got me thinking.  Here is a guy who has everything this world can possibly offer.  He is incredibly gifted and skilled at his profession.  He is wealthy beyond comprehension.  He is famous (infamous even?).  But it’s just not enough.  I’m reminded of Britney Spears song “Lucky”.  The song is about a beauty queen who, upon winning a pageant, is lauded by the world for her looks.  She is famous, wealthy, popular and beautiful.  Then come the telling words of the chorus.  “If there’s nothing missing in my life then why do these tears come at night?”  That song betrays the myth of fame.  Being famous, wealthy, good looking, popular and skilled can cover a lot of shortcomings.  But they can not bring meaning to a desperate soul.  They can not bring life to the dying.

Only in Jesus Christ can the dead be brought back to life.  Only in Jesus Christ is there hope for the hopeless.  Only in Jesus Christ is there joy and meaning and purpose.  We put celebrities (especially athletes) on a pedestal, longing to be like them and to have what they have.  But apart from Jesus Christ, everything they have is perishing.  Like chaff in the wind, it will all pass away.  James 1:10-11 declares, “But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower.  For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed.  In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.”

Terrell Owens, as a Philly sports fan, I am hurt at the way you scorned our city.  But I pray that you would find what you are looking for in Dallas.  I don’t think it will be on the football field.  I don’t think it will be in your bank account.  I don’t think it will be in the bedroom.  I don’t think it will be in front of the camera.  Those things will all fade away.  I hope you hear the words of 1 Corinthians 13:13, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love.”  TO, not everything in life will pass away.  Some things will remain forever.  I pray that God will reveal himself to you in this painful time of life that you might turn to Jesus Christ for life.  Because only in him are the things that last forever.

Update: Even if T.O. did not overdose on pills, he still has some serious issues and needs our prayer.