My Under Armour Soapbox August 16, 2016

A few disclaimers before I step on my soapbox.

1)  I love the Olympics!  I love watching the Olympics, learning about the athletes, cheering for Team USA, really anything Olympics-related.  I even watched a little badminton this year.

2)  I think Michael Phelps is amazing!  I watch all of his races, cheer very loudly  scream at the TV believing that my cheering will push him to victory and usually always get choked up when he wins which, as we all know, is very often. 🙂

3)  I really like the new Under Armour commercial featuring Michael.  He is a phenomenal athlete, and the commercial shows a level of hard work and dedication rarely seen, but… 

(Soapbox mount)

I have a huge problem with the tag line.  Rule Yourself.  This slogan and others like it (Nike’s “Just Do It”, Lance Armstrong’s “Live Strong”, or even “follow your heart” … just to name a few) are in direct conflict with the way God calls us to live, yet it is so easy to buy into the “catchiness” of these ads because they are fun and make us feel like we can do anything.  The problem is that doing anything has consequences.  

Under Armour and Nike would have us believe that we can and should be in charge of our own lives, but Judges 21:25 says, “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.”  The Israelites were “ruling themselves” and “just doing it” (evil) in the eyes of the Lord.  Their mindset led to captivity and hardship for individuals as well as for the nation.  Maybe we as believers today should take note…ruling ourselves and just doing it bring difficulty.

Lance Armsrong would have us believe that we should Live Strong when 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 tell us that by living weak, Christ’s power will be made perfect in us and then we will live strong.  I would much rather have the power of Christ perfected in me than rely on my own strength and abilities.  I know myself too well to believe otherwise.

Follow your heart … ahhh … sweet, romantic Hallmark advice.  What Hallmark forgets to tell us is “the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?”  (Jeremiah 17:9)  Instead of Hallmark’s wisdom, we should “above all else, guard [our] heart,  for everything [we] do flows from it.” (Proverbs 4:23)  

Now I am not saying that I am going to boycott Under Armour or Nike.  I am not saying that I am going to quit exercising and pushing myself to achieve goals,  and I am certainly not planning to stop watching Hallmark movies.  What I am saying, though, is that as a follower of Christ, I need to be sensitive to the messages I hear and see.  I will be inundated with this new Under Armour motto…in magazines, on billboards, on TV … it’s even a top trender on Facebook.    I must make sure that I do not buy into the way of the culture that sounds so enticing.  I must be careful not to allow this not-so-subtle message to change my belief system.  After all, it didn’t take long for five little words to change everything … “You will be like God.” (Genesis 3:5)  

(Soapbox dismount)

I love gymnastics, too.