Since the Philadelphia Eagles made it to the playoffs with Michael Vick at quarterback, sports and social commentators have expended a lot of energy exploring whether he deserved this second chance. A variety of arguments have been advanced and countered as to why he did or did not deserve a second chance at an NFL career.
Some have said his cruelty to animals precludes the second chance. Others have argued that if he makes the appropriate turn around it shows he deserved the second chance. Some have suggested that the NFL is about football and not personal character, so if he can help a team win without letting his off field life be a distraction, he deserves a second chance. Some have countered that sports figures are by default role models for youth, so need to be held to high personal standards, and if they cross the line don't deserve a second chance.
I suspect that Philadelphia sports fans are more likely to approve a second chance for Michael Vick than Dallas or Green Bay sports fans. As much as we want sports figures (or other celebrities) to be positive role models, just as in business and politics, in sports winning and profits rule and trump character more often than not. I'm not going to pretend to say whether Michael Vick should be playing in the NFL or not, but this discussion raises a deeper question that is wholly missed by asking whether he (or anyone else) deserved a second chance.
Theologically and biblically the whole point of God's grace is that we get a second chance exactly because we do not deserve it. While my flaws and failures may not seem as heinous as dog fighting (fill in your own alternative) and may not have take place on a public stage, I know I have had many, many more than second chances than I deserve. For these I am most thankful.
More than once I have had a driver whose car I did not see blow the horn as I was about to change lanes on the freeway right into the other car. Though knowing I would have been at fault had there been a wreck, I am thankful it didn't happen on behalf of the other driver and passengers, others on the freeway, and of course myself.
Plenty of times, I have been aware that an interruption (sent by God?) has prevented me from making an impulsive mistake, which I know I would regret and for which I would be solely responsible.
With this perspective on the grace of receiving undeserved multiple fresh chances, I also recognize that I have no claim on deserving eternal life. What I need is forgiveness specifically because I do not deserve it. Grace is excluded if I explain, justify, rationalize and excuse my bad behavior (and thoughts and attitudes). Grace is accessed only by acknowledging that I don't deserve the second chances God delights to give us in Jesus Christ.
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