LiveSTRONG Faith by Ben King, http://tailwind89.wordpress.com, reprinted by permission)
*Publisher's note: Ben King is the reigning U.S.Road Race Cycling Champion. This blog is printed here with his permission. Please pray for Ben as a neo-pro with Team Radio Shack for the 2011 season. Below he captures the essence of Lance Armstong's work as an evangelist for a cure for cancer and inspiration to patients and survivors, AND Jesus as the cure for the disease of sin.By Ben King
The pitiful thing is that over the past twenty days I had been grooming those few nasty hairs sprouting on my upper lip in a shabby excuse for a mustache. As trashy as it was, I wouldn’t shave. It symbolized hope. Besides, I was only a few hairs short of Lance Armstrong who was also sporting a scraggly ‘stache to raise cancer awareness as part of Movember’s campain. It is the same reason that dozens of burly NFL players had dressed in pink the previous month. When I was young I lost my grandfather to cancer, but a routine physical checkup never ended with the life shattering news that my time may be up. As a member of the Trek-LIVESTRONG cycling team, however, part of my job description is to “proudly wear the LIVESTRONG brand, helping to spread awareness for the global cancer fight.” It seemed appropriate to state in my bio that I was “most excited” to represent the cause, but could I define the cause? It became my priority to develop a personal understanding of the value of LIVESTRONG’s mission throughout the season. The exploration drew remarkable parallels to my understanding of the Christian mission.
During my freshman biology teacher’s lecture, dread and righteous hatred throbbed in my throat as she described the way cancer invades, perverts, and kills. My first impression of this inner decay was “it is the epitome of evil.” Malignant cancer is the perfect synonym for sin. Although it may spread slowly, once the disease occurs, it remains. Exercise and diet may slow it down but neither will remove the disease. In the same way good deeds cannot dispose of the sin in a life. Once you have sinned, you are a sinner. Once you have cancer, you are sick. It is a condition that cannot be bartered with. It’s not fair, and its the meanest thing on earth. Give a patient a knife, point out the tumor, and he is still helpless to cure himself. The chilling truth is that millions are benighted or live in denial of these death waging dooms. Like a redeemed sinner, Lance reacted to his rebirth into life after cancer by reaching out to those affected by the disease through creation of the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
LIVESTRONG employees go about their work with a religious fervor. Because these are faith comparisons, do not get the idea that they go about judging the cancerous, beating medical texts, or any other negative religious stereotype. For a people in supposed celebration of hope this hypocrisy would be revolting. What I mean is that they race to work, smiling and eager to provide hope and promote the LIVESTRONG brand. Lance is a passionate anti-cancer evangelical. In conjunction with his dramatic 2009 cycling comeback, Lance set out to make LIVESTRONG disciples of all nations through his global cancer campaign. Beginning in Mexico with our Trek-LiveSTRONG U23 team, Lance raced around the world gathering pledges from dozens of world leaders to commit to fighting cancer. He preaches beside his LIVESTRONG saints believing that awareness will inspire life saving action.
The next time I saw Lance was post Tour de France in Aspen, Colorado. We rolled along a bike path bordering a crystal river between snowcapped mountains, and I wished we were fishing instead of training. Stroller pushing jogger moms did double takes as Lance greeted each of them sprightly. I commented that because he didn’t win the Tour de France the media hype surrounding his comeback must have focused the spotlight on his cause rather than his athleticism. He bobbed up and down on his pedals as we skirted a rock wall, “you know, that’s exactly it. I mean, I didn’t try not to win, but this comeback has done so much good for LIVESTRONG, and I’m having as much fun on the bike as ever.” Lance did not allow his pride to prevent him from his most important objective, and he knew exactly where to point the attention.
Jesus, facing a radically divergent defeat, had been thrashed to pieces and as the blood drained from his wounds and the spit dried on his face and the nails tacked him up to expire and rot in public view, “the people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”’ (Luke 23:35) Instead of shaming them with one more miracle, Jesus prayed, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:32) In surrendering Himself, he fulfilled his mission providing a cure for sin. Sin upset the perfect equilibrium of God’s creation, and like cancer sin causes death. Since God’s “cause” is to know, love, and be loved, He performed this mystical blood transfusion as a blameless sacrifice to restore our spiritual health. LiveSTRONG and Christ exist for hope of life in the face of death. LiveSTRONG is a church for those affected by cancer.
A boy with pale freckled skin and creamy orange hair stood beside our deliciously decorated dinner table. “Who asked this question?” Lance asked. Doug Ulman, president of Livestrong, had selected it from a bin of submissions as the last to be addressed during the Ride for the Roses awards banquet. The fragile looking boy had already been identified as a cancer survivor. His awkward stance and downward gaze seemed almost abashed of his condition, yet his participation displayed vast appreciation and humility. Lance continued, “The question is: What do you think about while you ride?” His answer was less practiced than others he had given that night, and he hesitated searching himself for the answer. “The road, my schedule, family, my new son,” are among the things he ponders during those therapeutic hours in the saddle, “-but I also think about you.” The boy’s mother choked on her Adam’s apple and a hot stream of tears escaped her eyelids. As our director Axel Merckx says, “Lance is much much more than a sports figure. He is an inspiration.” Inspiration of real hope. Hope that is represented by the LIVESTRONG cause.
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