An Open Letter to Silas Redd

Silas Redd is one of the best players on Penn State's football team, and is facing a decision on whether to stay with the tarnished program or transfer immediately. He is also a professing Christian.

I wrote him a letter yesterday to encourage him to think through the potential that his decision has to bear witness to the glories of our Savior.  I share it here only to give an example of how I am trying to think through everything in light of the gospel, and to encourage all of you to give regular thought to how the everyday decisions in your own vocation have the potential to bring glory to God.

Hi Silas,

You don’t know me, but my name is Larry Lazarus and I am graduate of Penn State who was a team manager for men’s basketball at PSU from 1996-2000. During that time I became a Christian, through the testimony of Joe Crispin, a former basketball player there. Penn State means a lot to me because of the opportunities I had there, and especially because it’s where I came to know Christ as my Savior and Lord.

I am writing to you because I saw on your twitter page that you are also a Christian; I was encouraged to see you proclaiming your faith and quoting Scripture through Twitter. I also have been reading online about the decision you’re faced with now to stay at PSU or to transfer to USC or somewhere else. I felt compelled to encourage you to think about staying at PSU, because of the opportunity that I think is there to represent and magnify the worth of Jesus to you.

Don’t get me wrong, I love PSU and know that you staying there would make a lot of people in and around the university happy. But as much as I love Penn State, I love Jesus more, and can’t help but think that the decision in front of you is a tremendous opportunity for you to communicate something magnificent about Jesus to many people.

There are obviously a lot of reasons why staying at PSU isn’t attractive right now, and it looks like you have the chance to go right away to a school where you can compete for a national championship. As I think about your situation, I can’t help but think of some similarity to the position our Lord and Savior was in. There was nothing attractive about us, we were lost in our sin and enemies of God. We had nothing to commend ourselves to Him, nothing that would compel to Him to come and love us. And yet Jesus, when He looked down on us, rebels and sinners that we are, He chose to stay on the cross and bear the punishment for our sin. He could have gotten down and left town and returned to the glory of heaven. But He stayed, and died for people who had nothing.

Silas, I don’t know you outside the world of Twitter. But from there, you are a man who loves Christ and represents Him. You quoted 2 Corinthians 3 on Twitter recently, that we are ministers of a New Covenant. As you think through this big decision in your life, I hope I can humbly encourage you to consider the implications of your status as a child of God and as a minister of the New Covenant in this situation. There are thousands of people watching you, and it makes all the sense in the world to go to a winner, where you can play for a National Championship. I don’t think anyone could really fault your for leaving. What might be the implications if you stood before the world and said:

“I have every reason to leave PSU for greener pastures. But my life does not exist for me, it does not exist for winning championships or playing in Bowl Games. My life exists for Jesus Christ, and when He saw me as a sinner condemned to die because of my sin, He didn’t leave me in that helpless, pathetic condition. He stayed on the cross, and suffered for me. Now I belong to Him, and I exist to make Him known. So I am staying at Penn State, because in my sacrificing the glory of a National Championship run to stay with a team and a program that really has very little to commend itself right now, I want others to see the great love and sacrifice that Jesus made for me. He is more important than football, and He is the reason I can play football, because He has given me everything. I want my life and my football playing to honor Him, and so I am staying put, just like He did on the cross to earn my salvation.”

Silas, I hope you know I’m not just writing this because I like PSU and want them to have a good year, and a good football program. I haven’t been to a football game since my sophomore year in college, and only rarely do I watch the team play on TV. I’m a simple person who doesn’t have too much influence in the world. I have 28 followers on Twitter. My life will never be read about in the headlines of CNN or ESPN. I’m just a guy who loves Jesus deeply and wants others to know Him. And I think Jesus may have a plan to make His name great through your life, and specifically in you making a choice to stay at Penn State and tell people that Jesus is the ultimate reason why. If I’m wrong about that and am being manipulative by writing you and trying to persuade you, please forgive me for that. As best as I know my heart, I think I just had a leading from the Spirit to contact you and present these things to you for your reflection.

If you choose to not do that and go to another school, I won’t hate you and say vicious things about you to my 28 followers! You are still a brother in Christ and I respect you for making your faith known. But I hope you’ll at least consider what I am writing, if you haven’t already factored this all into your thinking about this decision.

Best wishes for the year ahead, and hopefully for a lifetime of making Jesus known,

Larry Lazarus