Atlanta

Braves pitcher John Rocker messed up royally recently

when he opened mouth and inserted foot.

In fact,

some believe he committed professional suicide when he

ranted his feelings of prejudice and ignorance to a

Sports Illustrated reporter. In one single article,

Rocker caused a national furor and brought embarrassment

upon the Braves organization and the city of Atlanta by

disparaging homosexuals, AIDS patients, foreigners,

minorities and single mothers.

There's no

reason to repeat his statements. 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,

that he sent Jesus to die on the cross. God hates the sin

in our lives, but he loves us sacrificially. People need

Jesus. All people. Are people important to you?

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. With our tongues we

have the power to bless and uplift or the power to curse

and kill the spirit in a person. We need to guard our

words and make certain they are glorifying God. We need

to pray, "Set a guard, oh Lord, over my mouth; keep

watch over the door of my lips." (Psalm 141:3). Are

you careful with your words?

Lesson

number three : Grace

is more godly than legalism. I happened to be driving

when the Braves' 5 p.m. news conference was broadcast

live, so I listened to most of it. I was quite surprised

at the position the Braves took. They admitted up front

that 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.

Braves

president Stan Kasten said, "What we have here is a

case of a player who, to me at least, has expressed a

great deal of remorse immediately and hasn't backed away

from that at all, who has accepted the responsibility and

sought help. And under those circumstances, I'm not going

to abandon a player or an employee or friend who's in

those circumstances."

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. Do

you easily admit when you are wrong?

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. Sometimes anger sits and simmers until it

spills out on a convenient recipient who may be totally

unrelated to the cause of our anger. Sometimes anger

management is a problem and losing our temper and

pitching a fit are ways of life. That is sin!

We live in

an age of rage. We see it on the roads. We see it in the

schools. You can even see it on the golf course. A golfer

was asked why he bought a new putter. He replied,

"The old one didn't float." The words of our

mouth may reflect the content of our heart. "For out

of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks,"

Jesus said (Matthew 12:34). Ask, "Am I an angry

person? Does my tone or do my words reflect that?"

It would be

easy to criticize John Rocker. The criticism would be

justified. But maybe we should pray for him and see how

God works in His life. Maybe he has learned from this

tragic mistake. And in the meantime, I'm going to learn

from his fiasco. What about you?

The Rev.

Dr. David L. Chancey is pastor of McDonough Road Baptist

Church.