Set Your Mind Above

Episode #89 - Throwing It All Away

November 05, 2021 Season 1 Episode 89
Set Your Mind Above
Episode #89 - Throwing It All Away
Show Notes Transcript

This week, the football world was shocked when star wide receiver Henry Ruggs III drove intoxicated at incredible speeds and struck another driver. His choices ended the life of a 23 year old girl, as well as his career. He will spend the next 2-20 years in prison while his young girls family will spend the rest of their lives mourning her tragic loss. Well...do we take sin seriously? Sin is not worth the cost, which is our soul. Not only this, but our actions impact others - physcially and spiritually. This is bigger than you, and in the end, it's not worth it. 

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Welcome back to all of our listeners! I’m BJ Sipe, and you’re listening to the Set Your Mind Above podcast – where everyday ordinary events teach us extraordinary eternal truths. I’m so glad that you’ve tuned in today, I am excited to share my life and my faith with you, and I sure hope that you’ll do the same with me along the way. 

The world of football was rocked by the news earlier this week concerning the 12th overall draft pick to the NFL out of Alabama last year. Henry Ruggs III, the top wideout for the Las Vegas Raiders, had an incredible career ahead of him. He was one of the fastest players in the league, almost beating the all time 40 yard dash record when he posted a time of 4.27 seconds at the combine, just .05 seconds short of the record. On the field, that speed turned him into an electric deep threat that could outrun almost any defensive back or strong safety. His great athletic abilities brought him great fortune and success, signing a 4 year contract with the Raiders for $16,671,626. Ruggs will likely never see any of that money, and in fact Ruggs will likely never see a professional football field again after the events earlier this week. After a night of drinking late Monday night, Ruggs decided to get behind the wheel of his Chevrolet Corvette and go for a late night drive while intoxicated. In fact, the police report that his blood alcohol content level was twice the legal limit. This decision turned out to be fatal, though not for himself. After traveling at speeds as high as 157 miles per hour, the 22 year old attempted to break and struck a vehicle in front of him at 127 miles per hour.  In doing so, the collision tragically ended the life of the girl operating the vehicle he struck, a 23 year old girl named Tina Tintor. An evening that should have ended with Tina finding herself home safe ended in her tragic death as the result of the decisions of an intoxicated professional football player driving at unbelievable speeds. This week I spent time reading statements from the family of Tina, the family of Henry, and statements from his teammates on the Raiders. There was one common theme that flowed through them all: everyone is broken & devastated. Ruggs has been charged with multiple felonies, and will serve time anywhere from 2-20 years in prison as the laws of Nevada read. The likelihood that he spends closer to 20 is significant. I wish I had something encouraging to say about such a devastating loss as this, but to be perfectly honest words fail me. I do know several things: everyone involved in this circumstance is going to need an incredible amount of love & support. The Tintor family is going to need help as they process and come to terms with the loss of a daughter and friend. The Ruggs family is going to need help as they process the pain the actions of their son has caused. The Raiders team is going to need help as they process the immediate loss of their teammate, and second guessing what they should have done differently. This young man, Henry Ruggs, is going to need love & support as he comes to terms with the great consequences of his actions, especially that it cost him much more than just his career – it cost someone else their life. I think that is the thing that makes this whole situation so much more tragic than it already was. It would have been a devastating occurrence had Henry drove at such speeds and been arrested, greatly damaging his career, or even lost his own life. But his actions did not just affect himself, they affected others. It’s not fair. It’s not just. But it’s a part of living in this broken world, our actions have a direct impact on others, and many times that impact is catastrophic. 

Today I want to talk about the nature of sin & the consequences of sin. There is no greater problem in this world than our selfish, prideful sin – it is at the root of everything that is wrong with this world. It is the very reason why Jesus was sacrificed, on account of our sin. It is the very reason why God’s wrath will come upon the sons of disobedience who reject the gospel of Christ. As such, I want us to establish two truths regarding our sin. The first truth is found in the words of Jesus in Mark 8:34-37, “And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?” The truth that Jesus establishes here for us is simply this: the pleasure of sin is nothing worst the cost of sin, it’s simply not worth it. I’ve heard it said before that, “Sin will take you farther than you wanted to go, cost you more than you wanted to pay, and keep you longer than you wanted to stay.” I think about this young man who just threw away millions of dollars and his entire career as the result of an intoxicated joy ride late at night. I guarantee you if you were to ask him today, he would tell you that it was not worth it. How much more then should we realize that whatever this world has to offer to us is not worth it if it means as a result we would lose our soul? To quote our beloved brother Dee Bowman who just this year went on to his own reward, “If you miss heaven, you’ve missed all there is.” It does not matter how pleasurable or tempting something is now, it is not worth your soul, as the wages of sin is death. The second truth is found in 1 Corinthians 15:33-34, as Paul writes, “Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.” Consider also Matthew 18:6-7, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!” The second truth we must recognize is this: our sin does not only hurt us, it hurts others around us. Just as Henry’s decisions tragically ended the life of the young woman earlier this week, we need to wake up and realize how destructive our selfish actions are to those around us. They are destructive in a physical sense to those around us. The violent man does not just hurt himself or his reputation, he hurts his family and those he is supposed to love. The adulteress woman does not just hurt herself & her reputation, she rips out the heart of her husband that trusted in her and creates great confusion, guilt, & pain in her children. The drunkard does not just hurt himself or his reputation, he hurts those who counted on him to be reliable, sober, and as in this case could even result in actions that cost others their lives. But our sinful actions are also destructive in a spiritual sense. Our influence, while it can do great things to help others when we live righteously, can do terrible things when we continue in sin. Our poor influence could encourage others to act in the same manner, and lead them down a road that could cost them their own soul or hurt others also. You see, this is so much bigger than us. Just like fire, our ungodliness spreads and can destroy everything & everyone around us. Our poor choices are nothing to scoff at, make light of, or water down. It’s time that we start taking sin seriously, because the consequences both to ourselves and to others is more than we could ever imagine. 
 
 Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode. Tune in, Tuesday-Fridays, as a new podcast episode will be uploaded each day. Also, be sure to follow the Facebook page for the Set Your Mind Above podcast for future announcements and video sessions. As you have the opportunity, share these thoughts with your friends and family, and share with me what important lessons you are learning from every day, ordinary events. Until next time know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.