He was half a second away from being pounded into the grass. In desperation, our Junior High quarterback flung the ball to the only open receiver on the field—me. Clutching the laced leather, I raced toward the end zone, virtually unopposed. It was only as I crashed across the goal line that I finally understood all the yelling. I had run into the wrong end zone—ours! To this day, I wish I could do that over.
Here's another do-over. It was half time at our high school football game. I was in the marching band. All 96 of us were high stepping toward the end zone when at a musical cue, we were supposed to flip around crisply and march the other direction. 92 of us did. But me—and three others—continued ignorantly toward the wrong end zone (all of this captured on film).
How I cringed later to see myself and my group on the big screen. We looked like ants, skittering toward the wrong end zone! (Do you see a pattern here?).
Trust me. I have plenty of do-overs I’d love to completely erase. I’m guessing you do, too. For some of us, the do-overs are “big ticket” items: a divorce, a fit of violence, a drunken spree, flunking out of college, serving time in jail or at detox. Maybe your list is darker yet. We’ve all got our issues.
But what about the Christian leaders whose sermons we hear, whose books we read and whose music we sing? Do they have regrets? I was curious. So I sat down with 28 well known evangelical leaders. People like Joni Tada, Tim Keller, Michael W. Smith, Anne Graham Lotz. I asked them straight out about their regrets, about how they would live life differently if they could do it all over again. Know what I discovered? They're just like you and me.
There are so many great stories these leaders shared, I compiled them in a book. But the one truth you need more than any other comes from the ultimate Book, were we are reminded in Romans 3:10, “There is no one righteous, not one.”
NOTE: You can discover for yourself what Christian leaders regret—and find freedom from your own regrets—in Jon's new book, If I Could Do It All Over Again.
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