The off-season of Christianity

"Preach the Word."
Because of a significant youth minister I was blessed to have in my life while in high school, those words became something of a catch phrase for me and my friends in our church youth group. A guy named Dan DeHaan came in and taught a lot of us not only to love studying the Bible, but taught us how to study - along with encouraging us in how to live out our faith.
Even after Dan moved on from the church I attended, we'd occasionally stay in touch. He once led a weekend retreat at the college I attended, and happened to be teaching from 2 Timothy. When he got to the phrase "Preach the Word" my ears perked up like a dog hearing his masters' voice. My head snapped up and he was looking at me and gave me a wink.
Dan had a major impact on a lot of people, young and old, particularly around the Atlanta, Ga., area where I grew up. He died in a tragic plane crash when he was only 33 years old. His funeral packed the sanctuary of the old First Baptist Church in downtown Atlanta with people who had been impacted by him in some way - from professional athletes to musicians to just guys like me.
It was tragic, because when Dan was buried, "the Word" was buried with him.
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A lot of football fans find themselves captivated by watching Tim Tebow play football.
Built like a linebacker with that big ol' square head, he's awkward for a quarterback in almost everything he does, yet I find when he's playing I can't take my eyes off him.
A most unlikely-looking NFL quarterback, Tebow is known for his almost guileless manner, a humility in his words and manner that attracts people. There is no mistaking his dedication to God, his love for Jesus Christ, and his unique ability to get people talking about Christianity.
It's not unlike the current NBA phenom, Jeremy Lin. His story is even more unlikely than Tebow in that he played college ball at Harvard, which is far more likely to produce guys who own NBA teams rather than play for them. Undrafted, cut from at least two NBA teams, kicked around the D-league, Lin has taken the NBA by storm with the New York Knicks. And the way he incorporates his personal faith in Jesus Christ has caused some to call this Asian-American the "Taiwanese Tebow,'' since he's of Taiwan descent.
I love watching and listening to Tim Tebow and Jeremy Lin and others like them.
I'm not much of an athlete, however. I guess I'm not really a Christian.
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Ever wonder what it would have been like to follow Jesus around when he was on earth? Not be one the '12' - his closest disciples, but maybe one of the many hundreds or even thousands who also followed. Those people undoubtedly were taught by some of the 12, who were routinely sent out by Jesus to heal and perform miracles. You know there had to be people who really identified not just with Jesus, but with Peter "the Rock" and John "the one Jesus loved'' and James "the son of thunder" and Matthew "the tax collector" ... and Judas.
I've never heard anybody talk about followers of Judas, but you know there had to be. He was one of the 12. He undoubtedly went out and performed the same miracles than the others did in Jesus' name. There must have been people attracted to the crowd following Jesus because of Judas.
Judas would have seemed to have a special place in the inner circle. It seems he was passionate about the poor and coming to their aid, and he seemed to be the one who handled whatever funds the disciples managed to have on hand.
So imagine the disappointment when those people found out Judas had betrayed Jesus. Maybe they felt Judas was a hypocrite, a fraud. And then throw in the fact that even Peter denied Jesus on the night of Jesus' arrest ...
When a guy as close to Jesus as Judas was turns out to be a hypocrite, it makes you wonder if maybe they all weren't hypocrites.
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It's tempting to stop right there, but I can feel some of you rolling your eyes, some of you perhaps getting mad, some of you even thinking "What the heck ...?" You are ready to argue against the idea that "the Word' was buried with Dan DeHaan, or that if you're not a successful athlete you're not a Christian, or that because Judas fell away, why believe in any of it.
But it struck me that many times, I do act that way. I get disappointed when some visible Christian turns out to be cheating on his faith and it makes me want to hide. It's only natural to measure myself against certain people and, realizing how short I measure up, want to stay quiet. And who among us hasn't felt helpless to go on when someone who has lead us and encouraged us and taught us is suddenly gone?
In the same passage where Paul tells young Timothy (in 2 Timothy 4) to "preach the word" he goes on to say "in season and out of season." Sometimes it can feel like it's really out of season to "preach the word" - particularly when a Christian leader you looked up lets you down, or when you don't seem to measure up to many of the Christians who have such a great platform from which to share, or when someone who taught you and encouraged you suddenly up and dies, leaving you feeling disappointed and alone.
Yeah, that could be a time when it certainly doesn't seem like the 'season' to be 'preaching the word.'
But you know and I know "the word'' wasn't buried with some guy you many have never heard of named Dan DeHaan, or that I am not a Christian because I'm not an NFL quarterback or NBA point guard, or that all followers of Christ are hypocrites and deceivers just because someone with the credentials of Judas was.
No, the message has always been more important than the messengers.
Don't get me wrong - I know some people seem to be more gifted than others. But I also think that's from our limited human perspective; I don't imagine God sitting up there creating some for column 'A' (quarterbacks, actors, evangelists, singers, millionaire businessmen), some for column 'B' (so-called "regular'' people) and some for column 'C' (third world peasants class who will be lucky just to hear the Gospel).
I believe God values us all equally, and one day we just might be surprised to find that in the kingdom of heaven, that third-world peasant had as much or more influence as the pop culture star Christian.
God works through people. No doubt about it. But He also works in spite of people.
Which is good news. Because there are times I am a hypocrite. There are times I don't live what I believe. And there may be times when those people I look up to as having it all together stumble and fall.
When that happens, it doesn't change the truth of the message. Because truth is, well, truth. Nothing can change that.
As someone once said - and you probably know who said it, but it doesn't matter because the truth was there before he said it - our salvation is "by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone."
Which helps us survive deceit and hypocrisy; survive when we don't feel we match up; survive when those we rely on leave us.
We "Preach the Word'' - in season, and out, and do our best "to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." (1 Timothy 2:15).