I love Theo Von. I love his podcast, ‘This Past Weekend,’ so you can imagine my thrill – and clearly that of about two million viewers – when Bishop Robert Barron appeared on a recent episode.
But it was something Von had said months earlier that stayed with me.
Reflecting on his own search for God, Von returned to the Gospel story of Jesus healing the sick man at the pool. Jesus asks him a remarkable question: “Do you want to be healed?
Von recognised something that many of us perhaps only understand after we have lived through it: healing means change.
“If I get healed, then I’m different,” he said. “If someone gets healed, they have a new story.”
Then came the honesty.
“Do I really want something different?” he asked himself, admitting that sometimes the answer is no. He reveals ultimately he wants something different, but he is afraid of what that might require. I found that incredibly profound.
That is not weakness. It is vulnerability. Von was honest enough to admit that while he knows he needs God, he is also afraid of what allowing God to change his life might mean.
Because responding to God’s grace is not merely saying the right words. It means becoming someone new.
Habits may have to go. Friendships may change. Vices we once thought fulfilled us can suddenly be exposed for what they are. Following Christ can require us to leave behind a familiar life in pursuit of something far greater: eternal life. And I think I saw a small reflection of that reality in sport this year.
Last season, the Newcastle Knights finished dead last, winning just six games and collecting the wooden spoon. This weekend, they face the Panthers in a preliminary final.
What a turnaround. What a story. But Newcastle did not simply wake up one morning and become a better version of last year’s team. Things changed.
Justin Holbrook arrived as coach. New players came in. Roles changed. The Knights developed a different way of playing. Injuries forced others to step into unfamiliar positions. Sandon Smith, for example, embraced whatever role Holbrook asked of him.
The players had a choice: resist the change, or embrace it. They chose the latter. And that is where the Knights offer us something more profound than a simple “never give up” message.
Christian redemption is not God pretending our past never happened. The wooden spoon will always remain in Newcastle’s record books. In the same way, Peter’s denial of Christ was not erased from his story. But neither became the final word.
Christ does not merely restore us to who we were. He makes us new. And that transformation usually does not happen overnight. Holbrook began laying the foundations for this season months before the Knights even played a final.
God can work dramatically, of course. But so often He works through ordinary things: discipline, relationships, correction, sacrifice, patience and thousands of small acts of faithfulness.
Perhaps that is the question worth asking ourselves. Not simply, “Do I want things to get better?”
But, “Do I want to be healed? Do I want to become someone new?”
Because sometimes the hardest part of being healed is letting go of the story we have become comfortable living.
