THE FALL OF AIR MCNAIR

“Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.” --- Hebrews 13:4

The recent murder/suicide that took the life of former NFL-great Quarterback Steve McNair was shocking to say the least. Listen to both individual camps and you get the picture of model citizens, who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The 36-year-old McNair lived a high profile life as a star player, who gave back to the community and tried to be a role model, especially to his young fans. His 20-year-old “girlfriend” was by all accounts a nice lady from a nice family.

So how did they both end up dead on a couch with five bullet holes in their bodies?

Were they bad people? Definitely not! I believe the woman was a nice person from a good family and I know Steve McNair’s work as not only a football leader, but also a community leader. The police were certainly at a loss to explain it. They waited days to make the murder/suicide ruling simply because they saw no motive. The families were certainly at a loss for words from the utter shock, but when they did speak it was with nothing but platitudes for their lost loved one.

Was it just one of those random incidents that no one can explain? The problem with that explanation is that there was one blatant thing at work here and the reason for the tragedy --- SIN. McNair was a married man with four children. The world is blind to that reason because it has been programmed to be accepting of the fact that divorce is the inevitable conclusion to most marriages and cohabitation without marriage is not only accepted, but encouraged.

The problem, of course, is that is not God’s way.

When you mess with God’s way it is called sin and though there is forgiveness for those who believe and confess their errors, there are still consequences --- even for model citizens. I believe God anoints EVERY marriage to be a picture of the relationship Jesus has with His Bride, the church. The wiring necessary to do that goes haywire when that path is departed from. The emotions and jealousy it can conjure up can even make the most sane person pull the trigger on life.

I’m not here to either judge McNair (“…let he who is without sin cast the first stone…”) or to give him a free pass, only to shed light on the consequence of sin. The comforting thing to all believers in this is that if McNair was a believer simply caught in the snare of temptation that money and fame can bring, he is with the Lord today in His eternal glory --- Not because of his exploits on the field, not because of his work in community, but only because Christ died for our sins and McNair chose to believe in that. What grace our Lord affords ALL believers!

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” --- Romans 8:1-2