Leaving a Legacy, Trusting Jesus, and Frodo Baggins: Why Being Disqualified is a Great Thing
To my wonderful friends:
Wow, what an exhilarating ride.
From the very beginning, I told Ann Marie the following.
1. We weren’t going to care about what everyone else was doing – we would worry about ourselves.
2. We would take the high road, not participating in mud slinging and if anything from our (specifically my) past came up, we would use it to point people to Jesus.
3. We needed to realize that the lessons and experiences weren’t going to come from winning the election, but instead the journey up until the election.
In hindsight, I’m humbled, by God’s grace, to say that all three proved to speak volumes of truth into our lives.
The Facts:
I tweet a lot. This time it cost much more than a few people getting angry at me.
Rick Warren (@rickwarren) tweeted and said to shoot him any prayer requests. Without thinking, I responded that I was running for AS President, I tagged Biola, mentioned other capable leaders were also running, and asked for wisdom and humble hearts.
That’s it. I didn’t tell people to vote for me, I didn’t campaign, but I did break a rule.
I need to stress that it was a complete accident, a simple but monumental mistake, and it cost us a chance at the election. I didn’t do it from a heart of cheating or trying to sway votes. Trust me, as the AS Election Board agreed, one tweet wouldn’t sway an election of 4,000 undergraduate students.
My Heart:
As I said above, I take complete and utter responsibility. I tweeted, I broke a rule, and I am at full fault.
When I got the call from AS, I felt terrible.
First, I felt immense stupidity for doing something so careless.
Second, I felt like I just lost the election.
Third, I felt like I let everyone down, starting with Ann Marie and leading to you guys. So many people put in so many hours of hard work, prayer, and time into our campaign, and with 140 characters, I completely threw it away.
I spent time on the phone with my parents, first throwing up dinner from the stress (sorry for the visual) and secondly weeping for you guys. We wanted to do a good work for Christ and His kingdom at this school reaching the lost, and I felt that we let a lot of people down in doing so.
I am extremely sorry. Words cannot express my deep and honest sorrow for letting you guys down. Each of you has played an integral part in my life during the last three years, and I was running first to serve Jesus and second to honor my friends. Because of this, my heart aches. It wasn’t about winning, but serving, and I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to fully serve you guys to my fullest ability.
How Jesus Redeems:
“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18.
Ironically, this was straight out of our campaign “chapter of scripture.” And it proved to be very true. This was a humbling experience, and I want to apologize for my arrogant and proud self.
However, I can tell you this – Jesus redeems us. After our meeting with the election committee, where I basically laid out what I am writing to you, I was filled with immense peace. Just as I told Ann Marie that it would be the journey and not the results that would provide lessons, God showed revealed a lot about His character and mine.
He showed me my depraved nature in a very applicable and tangible way. My proud and arrogant beliefs about myself reeked from my soul throughout this process. Much like Frodo in Lord of the Rings, I was beginning to love my biggest enemy.
For that, I want to apologize. At times, I know I have let my pride overrun who I am. I have worked hard to be exposed in community at church, Biola, and by Jesus. This time, I was full of myself, and although many of you might not have noticed, many did, and thank you for pointing it out and helping me seek Jesus in a deeper way.
What’s next:
“As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.” 2 Thessalonians 3:13
Keep desiring, pursuing, and exploring righteousness and holiness.
I’m supporting Chris Yim and Laura in their bid for presidency. Getting to know Chris and already having known Laura, I trust their character, heart for Jesus, and believe they will be the best team to lead this campus back to a heart for the Gospel message of Christ.
I don’t know what God has in store for me, but for one of the first times in my life, I’m very at peace about it. I plan to explore my options in AS and SMU, as well as at returning to coaching football.
I ask for your prayer, for myself, Ann Marie, and the teams still going through the election process.
Please vote for whomever you feel the Holy Spirit is leading you to. This is still important. Be active and involved, and make a difference.
As a final note, I want to stress this:
My mistake was stupid. But it’s a great opportunity to point people to Jesus, share the gospel message of grace, and leave a legacy for His Kingdom.
If you believed in our campaign, you simply believed in two people wanting to love Jesus more deeply, intensely, and bringing people up to speed on the vision of leaving a legacy. We can still do that together, not as AS President and VP, but as always, brothers and sisters who want to bring redemption to this world.
Thank you.
In love, peace, and grace,
Matthew Fier
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8.
