If you do not know by now, Reggie White, husband, father, the current NFL all-time sack leader, entrepreneur, community leader, minister, died yesterday of unknown causes.
This was a particular blow to me because I remember Reggie best earlier in his career with the Philadelphia Eagles when he first got the nickname of “Minister of Defense” for not only being outspoken about his faith, but for being an inspiration to so many in the world of sports for not hiding theirs.
Many years ago, both he and his wife came to the church that I used to be part of to speak. The one thing that impressed me about him the most was how his faith went beyond any eloquent speaking ability (he did not posses that in my opinion, but he was very inspirational nevertheless). Instead, he was a man that was determined to make a difference. He challenged those who were in attendance to not to just settle for being in a nice church community, but to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the places where it was needed the most: outside those nice, stained-glass doors. To me, his strength was seen not just on the field, but what he did off the field. He was one of those rare athletes that proved that fame and fortune does not always have to be accompanied with drugs, violence, baby mamma drama, etc.
Because he was such an outspoken Christian, I saw how some ministries tried to brand him as their own (I see this a lot with some athletes who are famous in their own right who become a part of some large ministry. The pastor will have them sit on the front row. I doubt very seriously this is done because they can’t hear the message. God forgive us!). Reggie went beyond settling on being the “athlete who depends on God to make touchdowns” role by doing things like helping to start around 400 businesses and created over 1,000 jobs through his non-profit organization Urban Hope. Here are the three main purposes of his organization:
*Create a giving back responsibility as a condition of our free enterprise system
*To empower people to gain influence over their own lives and the community
*Develop economic self-sufficiency
This posting is inspiring me to write more about some of the things I mentioned in this piece. No doubt I will use Reggie’s life as the backdrop. Stay tuned.
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