“Iron” Mike Tyson went from an undefeated, unstoppable force in boxing to a complete train wreck. It only took one year to derail the Champ. One factor that most people attribute to the downfall of Tyson is influence.
We all knew it was coming. Eventually, our friend Billy would die. He wasn’t perfect, but to some of us, he represented as close as it gets without having nail-scarred hands and a thorn-marked forehead. Still, even though we were expecting it, Billy’s death filled us with a mixture of sadness and joy when it happened. We are sad because our role model had left us but joyful because he had been made whole. But I found myself having another emotion, inspiration.
Leadership is a hot topic in America, especially in Christian circles. But we also have a long history of getting it wrong. The disciples had a specific idea of leadership that they imposed on Jesus. Jesus tried to prepare them for His kingdom and how things don’t work the same there. But until the unthinkable happened, they couldn’t grasp that Jesus was leading from a position of humility and suffering.
Suddenly I saw it, “David Platt to leave position as IMB president.” As I read the headline and the subsequent article, we were all shocked by the news of one more major stir-up in the IMB. But ultimately, before we went to bed, we collectively agreed that the core of what we do and who we are would not change. We are still called to take the Gospel to the nations.