Giving Credit to God

We've all seen a pro athlete make a great play and point skyward or take a knee in prayer, presumably giving a little credit or thanks to God. There's alot to be said about this habit. Some good, some bad.

But this weekend, an NFL player took this whole thing to a whole new level. Steve Johnson is a wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills. He also has a Twitter account. Last week, Johnson caught 3 touchdown passes and was quick to give God some credit for his success. This was his tweet after the game:

"Jus Goes To Sho God Is Good N Real! Keep Faith Thru Good N Bad."

This weekend was a different story. In overtime, Johnson has a pass thrown his way in the endzone. If he catches it, the game is over and the Bills win. He drops it. Pittsburgh goes on to win. After the game, Johnson's "tweet" takes on a very different tone:

"I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME !!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO..."

Sorry to break this to you Steve, but God didn't drop that pass. You did. The truth is we all drop a pass from time to time. We mess up. We just don't do the thing we really should do. If you're a human being, it just goes with the territory.

So what do we do when we "drop a pass?" It's easy to blame somebody else. This is something else we've all done. We justify our dropping the ball by pointing out how somebody else dropped their own pass. But just like Steve Johnson, it isn't someone else who dropped the ball thrown my way.

The hard thing, which usually goes hand in hand with it being the right thing, is to just own it ourselves. Yep, I screwed up. My fault. I dropped the ball, let you down, didn't do the right thing. I'll own it.

You know what I'd love to see? I'd love to see a QB who gets pounded into the ground for a sack and then stands up and points to heaven and thanks God for that. "God thanks for being with me even when it's not going well." Or the running back who fumbles just before he crosses the end zone who kneels in prayer, thanking God for the chance to learn humility.

That would be giving God credit in a powerful way.