Sometimes We Are All Chockers: Peter, Lincoln, and The Rest of Us

Last updated on: March 5, 2016 at 9:46 pm by John Mark N. Reynolds

Sometimes We Are All Chockers: Peter, Lincoln, and The Rest of Us 2016-03-05T21:46:35-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

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Known Chocker

This is not really about politics.

The other day Donald Trump said that “Little Marco” was a “chocker.” By this he meant choker, and Trump said, “a choker is always a choker.”

Fortunately for the Donald after his loss in Iowa (big time chocking), this is not true. Scott Norwood missed a game winning field goal in the Super Bowl for the Bills (wide right!), but was a clutch kicker for the rest of his career and became a successful realtor and family man. He was no chocker.

Or maybe he was.

Maybe chokers are people who always choke, but a chocker is the man or woman who blows it and then lets God give them a second chance.

Saint Peter was a chocker. He was the brave, Trump-talker amongst the disciples He had a sword and he knew how to use it, but when the time came to proclaim Jesus, he choked. Peter denied the Lord and ended up weeping alone as his best friend died. Later when Jesus confronted him with his failure, Peter admitted it and was restored to ministry. History tells us that this choker came to the end of his life and faced persecution in Rome under the madman Nero. He choked again and started out of town. He met the Lord Jesus who said: “Where are you going?” Peter turned around and returned to pastor his little flock and die. He was a chocker.

He choked and then he was redeemed.

Politics is full of chokers and chockers. Some people lose and then give up or cannot admit that they are part of the problem. The worst sort of chocker is the man who never learns from losing, William Jennings Bryan ran for President of the United States three times. He did more poorly each time: choker. He failed to learn from his defeats and kept doubling down on his failed strategy. Then there are the chockers like Abraham Lincoln. The lawyer from Illinois was a world class loser before being elected President. He failed at most of his attempts at office with the thinnest resume other than Chet Arthur ever to serve in the White House. He kept losing, but losing up. He lost a Senate race, was a better man at the end of it rather than the winner. He was a chocker who became our greatest President.

I have failed so often! Faced with a key decision, I have gone left when I should have gone right. I ran as a delegate candidate for Pat Robertson in my twenties. This was an error. Part of me wanted to give up on politics and hide, but I decided to learn from my debacle. I hoped to become a chocker and not a choker.

God, help us all. He finds us chokers and loves us enough to give us the chance to become chockers . . . even Donald Trump if he will try to learn from his defeats.

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