What would you do?

Even if you are not a cycling fan you are likely to know the name Lance Armstrong. His name has been all over the news this week as revelation and accusation about drug taking in cycling has gone from one unbelievable level to the next. But not everyone in cycling was taking performance-enhancing drugs.

Many of those who did spoke about their initial shock at the scale of what was going on and a determination not to get involved. But pressure from team mates, conversations with team doctors, and the frustration of getting beaten by people who you knew were not as good as you led many to take the wrong fork in the road. One cyclist talked about this turn coming for many after about 1000 days - 1000 days of resistance and saying 'no' - but in the end it was just too much.

But one cyclist from that era stands out - Christophe Bassons. He did not take drugs and he spoke out against drugs in cycling and he paid the price. 

He talks about being offered a contract: stay clean and sign a deal for about 4,000 euros a year; take EPO and sign the deal for about 47,000 euros. What would you do? Many took the second option, but not Bassons. Shunned by team mates and criticised by those we now know were taking drugs Bassons eventually retired from cycling. He paid a price for doing the right thing.

Armstrong won the Tour de France seven times. Bassons was hounded out of cycling.

In an interview with the Observer Bassons reflects and said: 

I don't feel bitter at all. I think if you were to compare the situations today of both Lance Armstrong and myself you might ask who is the happiest, who is the most content, who feels the best about themselves and what they did? I certainly don't have any regrets...Lance Armstrong cannot be feeling very comfortable today.

Life is all about choices. We face choices every single day. Many of them are routine with insignificant consequences - whether to have Sugar Puffs or Cornflakes for breakfast - but every now and again we come across a major fork in the road. Sometimes we know it's coming, and we have time to prepare for it - exploring different career options, for example. But other times we are hit with a situation out of the blue and we have to react on the spot. What do we do? 

Part of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus is that we seek to be obedient to God in every decision we take. This means developing a Christian character so that when we are faced with that on the spot decision we are more likely to do the right thing than do the wrong thing. Being a disciple of Jesus means that we realise that there will be a cost involved - doing the right thing means that often the easy options are not available.