Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker opened mouth and inserted foot when he vented his feelings of prejudice and ignorance to a Sports Illustrated reporter, causing in one single article a national furor.
There’s no reason to repeat his statements disparaging homosexuals, AIDS patients, foreigners, minorities and single mothers. They’ve been well documented. Rocker was clearly out of line, and I’ll leave his fate to the Braves’ higher-ups.
However, I do think each of us can learn some valuable lessons for life from Rocker’s tirade. In no particular order: Lesson number one: People matter to God. The people whom Rocker was trash-talking are people for whom Jesus died. For God so loved the world- the homosexuals, AIDS patients, foreigners, minorities, single mothers and even New York Mets fans- He sent Jesus to die on the cross.
Lesson number two: Words hurt. Someone said, “The first screw to get loose in our head is the one that holds our tongue.” We’ve all been there. We said something that we didn’t mean to say and it hurt. Like throwing feathers to the wind, words spoken cannot be retrieved.
Lesson number three: Grace is more godly than legalism. I happened to be driving when the Braves’ news conference about Rocker’s comments was broadcast live, so I listened to most of it. They admitted up front they could give Rocker his outright release, but, instead, based on Rocker’s humility and remorse, they decided to keep him and work with him for now.
Biblically, this is a redemptive approach that is unusual for the corporate world that normally puts the profit of the company before the welfare of the person. The Braves are concerned about their image, but they seem to be equally concerned about Rocker as a person. Are you full of grace? God is.
Lesson number four: When we mess up, we need to take responsibility and show sincere humility and remorse. We need to ask forgiveness. Even in God’s grace, he calls us to accountability.
Lesson number five: We need to be careful with our anger. The Bible says, “Be angry, but do not sin.” Anger shows up in different ways. Sometimes anger is turned inward and is never released constructively. That can become depression.
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