By Dr. Jeff Mathis
The headline pretty much says it all.
“He Was Going to Win Olympic Gold. Then He Skied the Wrong Way.”
The skier that went the wrong way is Jarl Magnus Riiber from Norway. He competed in the Nordic combined ski event at the Beijing Olympics this past week. According to one analyst, he’ll likely go down as the best in his sport.
Even before his race, his experience at the Olympics had started poorly. On his arrival, he tested positive for COVID-19 and missed his first event and every training session before being cleared to ski.
And then, after building an impressive lead on his competitors out on the ski course, he went the wrong way.
According to reporters Cohen and Robinson of the Wall Street Journal:
“As he entered the first of four 2.5-kilometer loops of the unfamiliar course, Riiber came to a fork. To the left was the cross-country circuit. To the right was the path to the finish line. Riiber, who hadn’t had a chance to practice on the Olympic track, sped toward the snow-covered lanes separated only by some low cones and a small sign. He picked the lane on the right.”
As you know by now, the lane on the right was the wrong lane to pick.
Riiber realized his error about 50 yards down the wrong path and quickly doubled back. But by then, it was too late. He went from first place—and the gold—to 8th place.
“It’s a silly mistake,” Riiber said, “and it’s not fun to show the world that I’m maybe wasting a gold medal on that.”
As hard as it is to imagine, however, it gets worse. This had happened to Riiber before. Several years earlier, after building—again—a significant lead, he took a wrong turn and was disqualified for going off course.
Yes, we shake our heads at this news. But we do so for the wrong reasons. Riiber’s story makes us cringe because it hits so close to home. We are all too aware that we, too, make the same mistakes twice.
God never intended for us to live a life of faith alone. To belong to Christ means that we belong to the Body of Christ. We are connected as brothers and sisters. Like the strong oak tree in your back yard that clings to the side of the mountain, we are rooted in Christ.
Our relationships with one another can keep us from making the same mistakes twice. Community tends to hold one another accountable for one’s actions and can provide healthy guard rails for staying on the right path. The rhythms of our faith, when practiced together, can help us know ourselves better and can prevent repeated attempts to go the wrong way.
Is there a lesson to this story? Oh yes.
Don’t go it alone. Choose a team sport. Get some teammates.