As for me and my house we will serve the lord

Sporting News, The, July 8, 1996 by Paul Attner

The huge man with bulky shoulders and anvil arms stands uneasily in the middle of the family room in his sprawling house in Tennessee. The pleasant glow that usually adorn$ his face has vanished unexpectedly. He suddenly is talking about being afraid. It is as if there is something inside his soul that he must get out.

"As Dr. King always said," Reggie White starts, "if you can't find a cause to die for, then you've got nothing to live for. But people don't want to die for no cause anymore. I know there is a possibility that what we are doing now, I can die for. It is a dangerous and uncomfortable position. But you know, Jesus died for me 2,000 years ago, so my cause should be for him. If there is a possibility I might get shot for or killed for what I am doing, then praise be to Sod because at least I was a martyr for him."

Then he stops. His 10-year-old son, Jeremy, is playing nearby. He stares at his father. White isn't sure Jeremy has heard the conversation, but why risk it? Just as quickly, Reggie's mood changes again. He smiles.

"Anyway," he says, "I am an awfully big target."

Then he laughs hard and long and Jeremy, not sure what the joke is about, laughs along with him.

On the morning of January 8, Reggie White sorted through-messages in his Green Bay residence. A reporter had called. Did he have any comment about what had happened earlier that day in Knoxville? The :reporter talked about the Inner City Church, where White is an associate pastor and major financial supporter, burning down in what appeared to be arson. Could White call him back?

White stopped and felt a strange emotion develop him. He was excited.

"Lord," he said. "Satan must really be worried about what we are doing. Now he is trying to burn us out. We must be doing something right."

Later, anger and sorrow also would fill his body, particularly when,five weeks later, he finally laid eyes on the burned-out structure where he had known so much rejoicing. Now, he remains at peace with the tragedy, because he is certain he knows why it happened: Racism was threatened by godly acts of his church--and the purveyors of hate were frightened enough to respond. The Lord has told him so.

Reggie White and God talk a lot. They talk about his sins, his accomplishments and, more than anything, they talk about his future. God has told -White he has a special calling, that White will serve his cause in mighty ways far beyond a local ministry. But when Reggie asks for specifics; there are none. As a minister once said, a calling is a peculiar thing. Everyone wants an address, but the Lord only provides directions.

On the day of the fire, White was a 34-year-old scripture quoting Christian athlete with impeccable moral credential and elite playing ability who spent much of his off-field time and energy-helping to fashion a series of economic projects in Knoxville that he hopes will be models to revitalize the nation's inner city. His national prominence was almost entirely due to his NFL accomplishments, not his deeply held religious feelings. But the wicked flames that destroyed his church and churches like it throughout the South have. in turn engulfed and altered White's life, leading him in directions he still struggles to understand and causing him to consider his vulnerability for the first time.

In another three years or so, he no longer will be Reggie White, Green Bay Packers superstar, perhaps the best defensive end in football history. Instead, he will be a full-time spokesman for God. Since January, he has witnessed at least part of the road map for the rest of that spiritual life. Slowly, the form of his service and size of his platform have begun to unfold for him and others to see.

"He is emerging as a national (black) voice," says the Rev. Mac Charles Jones, a prominent leader within the influential National Council of Churches. "He has the opportunity in the days to come to offer some bold leadership, and I see him as one of a team of folk who are emerging because of this problem who have a chance to be a new generation of voices that need-to be heard."

It is just as his friends have told him repeatedly over the years: Reggie, you are "Ding to fill the void in black leadership that has developed since the death of Martin Luther King. Evangelist R.V. Brown sees White becoming the "Black Billy Graham. I can't wait to witness the magnitude of what he accomplishes after he retires."

"Who's to say what lies ahead?" responds Jones when I tell him about these predictions. "I have found Reggie genuinely cares, and he has a passion for his own people in particular. But we'll have to see what plays out for him."

Even so, White already finds himself in the transitional stage of a most difficult transformation, one he hadn't expected to make until retirement For him to be truly successful in God's eyes, he eventually must be seen notes Reggie White the player who also is a preacher but as a man whose voice is taken seriously when discussing moral and political issues in this country. It is a matter of credibility; people must want to listen to his message because of what he is saying, not because he is the NFL's all-time sack leader. And that is a huge obstacle.