Unlabeled!

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It was supposed to be his last hoorah, his grandstand finish  but instead of being treated to yet another spell-binding display of athletics, we had to settle for Usain's bolt stab at the relay coming to a premature end due to an unfortunate hamstring injury. Not the fairy-tale ending befitting  a legend, but that's sports for you, paying no attention to scripts.

That's just half the story though. Earlier in the World Championships, in Bolt's penultimate race, the 100m final; Justin Gatlin took home the Gold, Chris Coleman the silver medal and Bolt finished in an uncharacteristic 3rd place. The crowd didn't take too kindly to Gatlin's victory as evidenced by the cacophony of boos that greeted him.  " Cheat! Cheat! Cheat!'' must have been the words ringing at the back of his mind in spite of his moment of triumph.

Gatlin has been cast as the pantomime villain and it seems that the label won't be shrugged off any time soon. Once a cheat always a cheat , it seems, and the general public is in no hurry to give him the benefit of doubt.

Gatlin's case showcases man's penchant for unforgiveness. It's as if Gatlin is the sum total of his mistakes and nothing more. It's as if he will always have to live with the indiscretions of his past and have the label of 'cheat' shoved in his face at the slightest opportunity.

It draws me to two parallels in the bible; Peter and Judas. Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver and immediately after was stricken with guilt. He beat himself up about it , and racked with remorse, he concluded that he couldn't live with the label of traitor and tragically took his own life.

Probably the fear of how others would perceive him paralyzed him. Probably he envisioned the constant finger-pointing, the hushed tones behind his back, and it set his teeth on edge. It drove him to the brink and fearing that no-one would forgive him he took his life.

Contrast that to the story of Peter, a  man whom many would say is representative of us. Walking on water one moment, sinking the next. Declaring Jesus as the Christ one moment, being rebuked the next.Peter had his crisis moment shortly after Jesus' arrest. Not once but 3 times he denied Jesus after you remember; he asserted he would never disown him (Mark 14:27-31), well he did, big time.

He couldn't hide from that fact once the cock crowed. He wept uncontrollably and who could blame him? He disowned Jesus after vowing he would not, He disowned the man whom he had come to know as Rabbi, the man who made him walk on water, the man who healed his mother, the man who helped him catch a miraculous haul of fish and the list of miracles  goes on. Imagine his regret and despair, his self-condemnation thereafter. He beat himself up about it no doubt. He didn't go the Judas route of suicide but one couldn't help but think he may have considered it.

Surely the words, 'Traitor! Traitor! Traitor' lingered in the periphery of his mind, even after Jesus' resurrection. Like Gatlin, even in your moments of conquest, even in your victories in academia or the corporate world or the arts or sports, you still hear some form of backlash in your mind,

"Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!"
"Junkie! Junkie! Junkie!"
"Wasted!Wasted!Wasted!"
"Crack-dealer! Crack-dealer!Crack-dealer!"
"Failure!Failure!Failure!"
"Never amount to anything! Never amount to anything!Never amount to anything!"
"Has been! Has been! Has been! "
"Side-chick!Side-chick!Side-chick!"
"Party-animal! Party-animal! Party-animal!"
"Pervert! Pervert! Pervert!"

Do those accusatory labels pop up once so every often to remind of you of the skeletons in your closet when your compromised on your integrity and plagiarized a report. When you threw caution to the wind and imbibed alcohol galore that led to you being found sprawled on the floor in some gutter puking your guts out. Was it a haunting memory of a time of self-gratification in front of the screen or was it a night of sex in a rented room with a guy or girl you'd wish to forget?

Might it have been what Peter had thought when Jesus asked him, "Do you love me?" at the closing chapter of the book of John. In spite of him responding in the affirmative, maybe he paused and dwelt on the 'get behind me Satan' rebuke. Then when Jesus asked him the same question a second time, maybe he remembered the last supper and the strong assertion he made that he would never fall away. Surely he grimaced, knowing fully well he did fall away in spectacular fashion. Then came the question for a third time..."Do you love me?" "Why does my LORD ask me a third time...wait...a third time...the cock!!!! Oh no he wouldn't!!!" Probably the realization of his denial hit him in the face. Was he disowning Jesus thrice for a second time? Might he have choked when he replied,"Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."

Maybe  in church as the song, "I give myself away so that you can use me', blares out, in the back of your mind that doesn't quite resonate with you because you know full too well that you're holding so much back.  When the praise and worship urges the congregation to sing, "Everyday it's you I live for...everyday I follow after you" but in the back of mind you realize you live for paper and the approval of your peers even if it means putting Jesus in a box.

Jesus didn't berate Peter for his denial after that exchange. Jesus didn't  tell him how he'd let him down in his moment of need. Jesus didn't read him the riot act for disowning him after all the miracles he had done. Instead he gave him a preview of what death Peter would die glorifying God, effectively forgiving him and reinstating him as the Rock.

That same Peter, was the one who preached when the Holy Spirit came down on Pentecost and 3000 gave their lives to Christ. Notice the other disciples did not cry, "Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!" as he did so nor did they boo or heckle him as he preached.They didn't slander him nor did God boom down from heaven to voice his disapproval  of Peter. That's a comfort for you and me who have fallen away like Peter did.

We aren't the sum total of our mistakes. We aren't defined by our 1 misdemeanor or even a string of them. Jesus pardon defines us like it did Peter and we don't have to leave in perpetual regret, shame or self-condemnation because of what we did in the past. We move on. We shouldn't cower in the face of, "Cheat! Cheat! Cheat!"

Rather we ought to believe and remember in our mind:

"Forgiven! Forgiven! Forgiven!"

"Child of God! Child of God! Child of God!"

"Saved by Grace! Saved by Grace! Saved by Grace!"

"New creation! New creation! New Creation!" For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again.(Proverbs 24:16) Peter rose again. We rise again and don't have to live as labels because we are not labels, neither are we our past mistakes, we are children of God and God himself is very able to complete the work he started in us beginning when he called us to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior to the very end regardless of the hiccups along the way.(Philippians 1:6)