“The Unknown Man”

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Corwin Anthony (with Athletes in Action) shared his experience as a young UCLA football player and his spiritual journey with the Iron Men Golf Club this August 7th, 2021.  Corwin quickly gained our attention when he mentioned that he grew up attending church throughout his childhood and young adult years.  He further described his time at UCLA on the football team as a man who professed faith in God, but when he encountered someone who asked revealing questions, it led him to reexamine his relationship altogether.

Corwin went on to explain that his encounters with the Lord was like many of us in our relationship with the Sun, it is needed and well respected, however we tend to purposefully avoid too much exposure being careful not to get too close.  Corwin shared an analogy about God being like the Sun to him.  Corwin was afraid of getting burned if he got too close to God.  However, Corwin did not want to be too far away from God either.  It’s too cold and too dark in those realms so he picked a nice warm spot in between.

Corwin then went on to share that he was approached at UCLA by an Unknown Man who asked Corwin if he was 100% certain about his eternal destiny being heaven. Corwin responded by saying he was actually 75% certain.

The Unknown man responded by saying, “If you think about it Corwin, your answer can only be 0 or 100%.  There is nowhere in between.” 

Corwin was offended by the Unknown Man’s willingness to challenge Corwin’s response which felt like he was passing judgement on Corwin’s relationship with the Lord, just because he wasn’t 100% certain about it.  And he was relieved to walk away from that conversation being thankful that he’d never see this stranger again.

Then one afternoon Corwin saw this same man entering the UCLA football team locker room and he panicked!  How did this stranger get through security?  So Corwin asked one of his teammates who this unknown man was and his teammate said, “Oh, him. Well, that’s our team chaplain.”  Corwin then shook his head in disgust and began to avoid this team chaplain at every turn. In fact, every time the chaplain entered the locker room, Corwin would literally get up, walk out the door and peak back inside from around the corner until the chaplain was done making his rounds.  Then Corwin would go back inside and get dressed for practice.   Corwin still felt like his 75% certainty should have been good enough since it was a passing grade in school.

Sometime later a teammate of Corwin’s invited him to lunch and shared Revelation 3:15-16 with Corwin which reads, “Because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”  This verse shook Corwin to his core when he noticed that Jesus, himself spoke those words.

When Corwin was gazing into the eyes of all the Iron Men while sharing his experience, he said, at that point, it became clear, it is either 100% or nothing, with no options in between and Corwin decided he was going to commit the rest of his life doing his best to live 100% committed to his relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

I (the writer and participant) personally witnessed many of the Iron Men agree in one way or another.  Some emotionally expelled a moan, and others said “Yes” quietly. 

Corwin had a humble smile on his face when he told us the Unknown Man who ended up being the UCLA football team chaplain, went on the be the Best Man in Corwin’s wedding five years later.

Several deep breaths were taken, and a harmonies release followed.  Corwin’s personal testimony challenged each man to make the same assessment regarding their salvation.