Pride Goes Before Destruction

A few weekends ago I came across some information about one our former BRT students “John Apple”. John Apple was a standout basketball star. He had the gift and the dream.

In school, on and off the court, he was clearly admired by his peers and liked by his teachers. He was, simply put, a real nice guy.

John and I would meet almost every Friday at 6AM during his senior year. We would meet at McDonald’s for breakfast, prayer and Bible study. It was during one of those conversations we were talking about his gifts.

John refused to acknowledge his gifts as God given. He saw his talent and his ability and he saw the hard work and discipline, as well as the sacrifice. He refused to believe that God had anything to do with his gifts. “It was me who practiced, it was me who trained, it was me who was on the court…It’s all me.”

That was hard to hear as my own words came back to be from several years earlier when I arrogantly said the same thing about my academic work. John certainly was a nice guy but he was quietly arrogant. He had to repent or he would head towards destruction.

John’s arrogance intersected another part of his life. And to give you more background, his family was broken and financially struggling. He justified his drug dealing as a way to take burden off his family but more likely as a way to gain independence from them. He never mentioned his father and had a strained relationship with his mother.

John’s arrogance made him believe that he was untouchable, above the law. It was only a matter of time before the law would find John.

Now, some five years later, I learned that John was in federal prison under drug-related charges. He was found with over $100,000 in cash and drugs in his possession.

Arrogance, rationalizing moral failing… pride comes before the fall (Proverbs 16:18)

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