Michael Vick: An Unprecedented ‘Fall from Grace’
Aug 21st, 2007 by Nathan White
As a Falcons fan and a Michael Vick fan, it has been a rough few weeks. I am troubled by the events surrounding the dog-fighting offenses, and I have often labored in my own heart to see these events from a biblical perspective.
Oftentimes it is difficult for me to come to grips with sports personalities and their behavior off the field. In fact, overall, I love sports, especially the Braves, Falcons, Bulldogs, and Dallas Cowboys, but I continually find that a wedge is thrust between reality and the make believe. This situation is one of those times. On one hand, I really like Vick as a football player, and will miss watching him play for my team, but his lifestyle has me extremely saddened. ‘Torn’ is a good way to describe how I feel.
But regarding this situation, and what we can learn from it, I want you to think about something here, something extraordinary:
If there was ever a man who had it all, by this culture’s standards, Vick was that man.
If there was ever a man who by all rational logic should strive to obey every letter of the law of this land, Vick was that man
If there was ever a man who was loved by people (especially here in Atlanta), Vick was that man.
If there was ever a man who had favorable circumstances in this life, to the point where rational logic should throw out any notion of getting ‘caught in the wrong situation’, Vick was that man.
If there was ever a man to honor his authority (in this case, the NFL and the owner who gave him a $130million dollar contract), Vick was that man.
But sadly, Vick threw it all away to gamble and illegally fight dogs. Did you get that? He had a $130 million dollar contract, the fame unlike almost any other, the love of a city and of Falcon’s fans all over the country, numerous endorsements, and he threw it away to fight dogs. To fight dogs.
Doesn’t make any sense, does it? Anyone with a brain realizes the unprecedented foolishness of such decision. To top that off, when confronted with the charges, Vick lied to the Commissioner of the most powerful sport in the world (NFL), he lied to the man (Arthur Blank) who gave him a $130million dollar contract, and worst of all, he lied to a Federal Judge (not-guilty) and the watching world.
What was he possibly thinking?
Now we’ve seen many athletes throw away their careers for drugs, abuse, alcohol, general law-breaking, etc., but this is unprecedented. Nobody in history was so famous, so rich, and had so much to lose, on something…well, so stupid.
What possible explanation can we provide for such a thing? Was it the fast manner in which he rose to fame? Was it our culture’s tendency to crown athletes as superheroes before they are old enough to handle it? Did his bosses fail to discipline him by just signing a blank check and turning their heads when he messed up (this was not his first incident)?
Sure, maybe some of that plays some kind of role in the situation. But there is a deeper element, a far more pressing concern. My friends, there is but one explanation for such a circumstance: Human Depravity.
If this story doesn’t serve as a wake up call to the sinfulness of sin, then certainly nothing else will. Sin is powerful, and it rules over ever aspect of man’s nature, even when all logical rational indicates otherwise.
You want proof that man without God is evil to the core and can do nothing but serve his master unless freed by the Son? Vick is a perfect example. No amount of outward blessings, favorable circumstances, love, money, fame, or persuasion can withhold the mighty bent to sin within the human heart, and the mighty bent to walk after the desires of our own heats.
To suggest that evil hasn’t touched the very core of man, as if there was a kernel of good that still remained within that has the ‘freedom’ to choose to do good and repent and follow the Lord, not only defies the clear teaching of holy scripture, but it goes against all rational logic in personal experience as well.
Vick is proof, sad proof (as if we needed any) of man’s wicked heart in spite of all manner of unprecedented mercies, goodness, favor, love and provision of God.
What does the Bible say about the far-reaching nature of sin? It actually speaks very clearly:
-Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
- Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.
-The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
-the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
- The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
-And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
-For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
-The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
-They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.
-To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.
-Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
-For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.
-Who can say, “I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin”?
-None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.
-A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.
-No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
-And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
Well then you might ask, who then can be saved? Jesus’ reply to that is: “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
May Christians fulfill our duty to the Lord and proclaim man’s need to be delivered from sin each and every time someone shakes their head and says, “how could Vick ever do such a stupid thing?”
Excellent post. Certainly he fell into the trap that great athletes quite often can, that being to think that they are above it all. I am sure he has always been able to get to the front of the line, to always receive special treatment, and that builds up in one, or at least it can, a feeling that there is nothing that I cannot do, for after all, he is beloved in Atlanta, he does make so much money, have so many endorsement deals, etc.
Obviously, when we have such an out of proportion view of ourselves, we are just setting ourselves up for a fall. And Michael Vick appears to have taken that fall. May God help him in this time and may he find repentance from God through His Son.
Nathan, I think it also (in addition to Total Depravity) tends to prove the truth of the deceitfulness of riches and what the old King James might call “vainglory.” Vick had it all, but it wasn’t enough. Vick had it all, and now it’s all going away very quickly.
I’m not a huge fan of John Wesley, but he understood the power of money to undermine the man of God. He said something like, “Whenever I get some money, I give it away as soon as possible, lest it find a way into my heart.”
It’s almost as deplorable as cat juggling, many a life was wasted to this unthinkable depravity, until Navin Johnson, out of the excess of his Opti-Grab fortune, put an end to it in the late seventies.
I am intrigued by this culture that is so enamored by the Pitt Bull, I have some friends who are teenage boys who are very poor, but somehow they find money to buy $400 pit bulls. Really it’s a pretty fitting idol for the gang culture with which they try so desperately to identify. There seems to really be a misplaced method of fatherhood, one on which the pit bull can successfully be raised to be a champion fighter (or die), but on which a boy simply rapidly becomes an angry, stubbornly unrepentant criminal. It’s sad that they will argue for hours with me about how Tupac is still alive, but they dismiss the story of Christ raising from the dead out right. Something about the whitewashed Jesus of Sunday school just doesn’t strike within them the same awe as does a filthy mouthed gangster rapper or a pit bull. It surely does go to the issue of depravity in that our natural selves will never repent apart from the power of God within us, however we also must present the whole Gospel in order to produce Biblically sound disciples.
“Gentle Jesus” although factual, is a hard place to start when trying to lead a violent culture to hear the Gospel. Besides, the fact that Jesus is “gentle and lowly in heart” is made much more significant in light of the awesome power of who he is and in the unapproachable nature of the Holiness of God. It’s hard to overcome the image of the sissy Jesus that many people have in their minds, a good place to start though might be Rev. 19:
As the Chair of Animal Chaplains.com, I have been horrified to learn about dogfighting and the cruel torturing, maiming, and killing that takes place in it. I am saddened that celebrities like athlete Michael Vick and rapper DMX have been implicated in such unbelievably bloody crimes. The blogosphere seems to focus on the wrong questions, IMHO. Instead of, “Are animals as important as humans?”, the real question should be, “Do animals suffer?”
Like humans, animals are sentient beings who feel pain. That is not only an intuitive reality, but a scientific fact. We are instructed by all of the worlds major faiths to care for animals in responsible, loving ways. It is our moral and spiritual obligation to protect them. Please join us on October 4th, 2007, in cities all around the world to celebrate “World Animal Day”. On that day, animals will be blessed and honored, and we will hopefully all realize how lucky we are to have them in our world. For more information, search on the words “World Animal Day” for a celebration near you.
Nancy J. Cronk
Founder, Chair and Chaplain
Interfaith Association of Animal Chaplains
http://www.AnimalChaplains.com
Hey maybe it was a fall TO Grace:
Vick says he found Jesus:
http://www.tmz.com/tmz_main_video?titleid=1155331252
It is hard to believe Michael Vick has completely transformed overnight. His father and friends and neighbors have reported in other articles he has been torturing animals since he was a kid (siccinig dogs on cats in lumberyards, etc.). Could any of this have to do with his sentencing coming up???
I am glad he told kids not to do what he did, whether he was sincerely sorry he hurt animals, or not. My son bought it. Personally, I will need to see him donate all of his money to charity, or pledge to spend his life helping others before I believe he has become a better person – not just spend a year thinking that he will be forced to spend in jail anyway.
As for me, I will continue to teach people that every major faith in the world is against dogfighting.
Animal Chaplain Nancy Cronk
http://www.AnimalChaplains.com
Wow, that’s quite a standard. Do you hold everyone to it?
I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and say that confessing the sin, and putting it all in Jesus’ hands is a good turnaround for me, providing he evidences his turnaround by living a changed life. I’m not saying this to say that he should not be punished for what he did, but as far as he and God are concerned, it sounds like a good start to me.
No sir, I do not hold those standards for anyone – I am trying to make a point. I am just suggesting that the “one year of thinking” he agrees to do is like a grain of sand in an ocean of what should be repentence, IMHO. The man tortured, abused and killed innocent animals – animals who feel pain and who suffered greatly as they died.
I realize many people do not understand the nature of dog fighting and just how cruel it really is. These animals have their flesh torn off and their bones broken, if they survive the fights. Then, they rarely get medical care, and they are often chained up in the elements to feel pain until they die. The nature of dogfighting is that the criminals who enjoy the sport no longer see these creatures as feeling, living beings. If you have not seen these images, google “dogfighting” and choose “images” on the task bar. There are some on my site, but I did not even choose the worst to display.
The Bible teaches all of us to care for animals. Rather than go into the entire breath of scripture here, I ask you to check out my website – http://www.AnimalChaplains.com, for a listing. I believe caring for animals goes hand in hand with caring for humans. They are both basic elements of a civilized society. Just as I cannot walk away from abused children, abused elderly people, those who are starving, I cannot walk away easily from abused animals. I hope you can’t either.
Thank-you for your thoughtful comment.
Yours in Spirit and peace,
Chaplain Nancy
I think what Michael Vick did was wrong. What he did was sinful. He should be punished for his illegal actions, just as I believe any other citizen should be punished for any infraction of the laws of this land. However, I do think this whole incident is indicitive of the times that we live in. Athletes can rape, kill, and do all manner of evil against their fellow MAN, and there is a small penalty (if any), a slap on the wrist, and a politically correct warning. Thousands of unborn BABIES are murdered each year and nobody even seems to notice. PEOPLE are dying due to starvation and genocide all around the world. Most people hate the one true God, and nobody cares about anything but Dogs.
Yeah, it’s pretty sad when you can go down and buy a Rae Carruth jersey at nfl.com (murdered his pregnant girlfriend), a Ray Lewis jersey at nfl.com (stood and watched while his friends brutally killed two people), and an OJ Simpson jersey at nfl.com, but a Vick jersey?? No way! Those have all been pulled from the market.
What Vick needs to do is find a way to blame his actions on an altered state of mind brought on by Global Warming. Get the liberal, PC crowd on your side, see.
Since you are a Cowboys fan…it is apparant that my prayers must increase on your behalf….
Hope you guys are doing great.
J.R.
Hey now, after the Cowboys big win the other night, I’m feeling goooood!