Gruden and humility

I've been very uninspired to write lately. Perhaps my muse was assassinated last month. Perhaps getting the house ready to sell and trying to figure out what life will look like in WV has left me "speechless." Perhaps it's due to being a laid-off pastor and I don't think cyber-pastorally much anymore. Whatever it is, it took Jon Gruden to get me back on track.

While watching Monday Night Football, Jon Gruden, former Bucs Coach and now Monday Night Football commentator, spoke about the difficulty of coaching in the NFL. He noted that you can't simply be up in the standings with 4 games to go and relax. "We were 9-3 and we were coasting. Then we lost the last 4 games and I lost my job."

And he said it with a smile on his face. I think the other two guys in the booth were taken by surprise. Jon wasn't afraid to talk about his failures.

Largely blasted for his super-sized ego and alleged mistreatment of players through dishonesty and deception, he showed some real maturity. Maturity in the form of humility.

The ability to admit and even laugh about your failures is something that ought to characterize the life of the Christian. The security found in the gospel-that we are loved and provided for despite our sins and failures-allows us to regularly admit our failures to friend and foe. And yes, at times, even to a national audience.

Jon, if you're reading this, thanks for the reminder of how Christians should live if we truly believe the gospel.