Why Isolation, Boredom, and Pride are as Dangerous as Dynamite

“Wow, I’m a natural. This is it. I was born to do this,” were the very thoughts I had moments before I was disqualified.

After running the 100m dash at a track meet in elementary school, our coach asked the team if anyone wanted to enter the speed walking event.

“Speed walking? Like…walking with speed?” I thought to myself.

This was my first official track meet and everything was new to me. The sights, the sounds, the smells, and especially speed walking.

Though I had never heard of the event—let alone see it take place—I volunteered for it. After all, how hard could it be? It’s just walking fast, isn’t it? Anything was better than just waiting around until the track meet was over.

After the coach showed me the proper form and let me in on the rules, I was off.

Seconds into the race, I was leading the pack. Minutes in, the distance between me and the next contestant was unfathomable.

“Wow, I’m a natural,” I thought to myself. “This is it. I was born to do this.”

And that’s when it happened. I was pulled out of the race for breaking the rules.

Disqualified. No second chances. No restarts. It was over. My rising Olympic career was over.

Have you ever been disqualified?

Okay, maybe not for bending your knees while speed walking, but for something else? For over embellishing your resume? Or, maybe for looking over at your friend’s answers during an exam?

There’s a disturbing—dare I say—trend that I’ve noticed over the past several years. It seems like an increasing number of public figures are falling from grace and disqualifying themselves from leadership.

Eric Geiger words it well in his new book, How to Ruin Your Life and Starting Over When You Do,

I could easily write about a recent story of a well-known leader, coach, college professor, or ministry leader who was removed from a position of influence because of disqualifying behavior, because of issues of character and integrity. However, the story would be old news by the time you read these words because there are always new stories as these implosions continually come to light. Competent and effective leaders in a variety of fields and disciplines forfeit their roles over deficiencies in their character. They were able to lead others but not themselves, able to grow an organization while their hearts grew cold. When a lack of integrity comes to light, leaders can be disqualified. [1]

A couple months back, I saw a building implode for the very first time—and it was amazing.

This wasn’t just any old building though, this was the very building that I used to work in—it was the old LifeWay before we moved to our new headquarters down the street. Take a look at the video I posted on Twitter.

Goodbye old @LifeWay Draper tower! Crazy crazy IMPLOSION. #Nashville pic.twitter.com/itIn1FEad5

— Daniel Im (@danielsangi) January 6, 2018

I know there’s quite a subculture around the implosion of buildings (you can spend hours on YouTube watching it), but when I was watching the LifeWay building go down, I honestly had no idea what to expect.

I didn’t realize the weeks and months of preparation that went into setting up the explosives inside the building. I didn’t realize that each of the explosives were carefully timed and had to go off in sequence. And most of all, I didn’t realize that after the implosion began, that everything would look normal from the outside, until suddenly, everything would come crashing down on itself.

Eric puts it well, “Though the fall may seem fast to onlookers, ruining your life does not happen overnight.”[2]

When you do an autopsy on leaders who have ruined their lives, they seem to be imploding by:

• Allowing their integrity to erode
• Shrugging at the explosives beneath the surface
• Letting their competence and gifting outpace their integrity
• Accepting more responsibility than their character can handle [3]

By looking at King David’s implosion from the Scriptures, Eric identifies three explosives on the foundation of his life that led to his implosion: isolation, boredom, and pride.

Here’s how he puts it,

Just as demolition experts place explosives inside of buildings so they will weaken and implode, there were three explosives on the foundation of David’s life that led to his implosion. These three explosives can lead to your ruin as well. They are easily hidden from those who watch us from a distance, but they threaten to destroy the foundation of our lives.

The three explosives are isolation, boredom, and pride.

First, David was alone. He was isolated. It was the time that kings go off to war, and David remained in Jerusalem. He sent his community away. Friends who would have held him accountable were gone. Friends who would have stopped him from pursuing Bathsheba were nowhere around.

Second, David was bored. He got up from his bed in the middle of the night looking for something, anything. The Lord, on that night, was not enough for Him. He wanted something else, something else to look at, something else to conquer, something else to pursue.

Third, David was filled with pride. When he was told that Bathsheba was Uriah’s wife, David instructed the servant to get her anyway. “I am the king and I get what I want.” In his mind, David deserved whatever he desired. Pride corrupted his heart.

Isolation. Boredom. Pride. They must not be taken lightly. They will ruin a life. [4]

If you want to dig yourself out of an implosion that has happened in your life, or make sure that it doesn’t happen to you, make sure to check out Eric Geiger’s new book, How to Ruin Your Life and Starting Over When You Do.

Next Steps:

1. Learn more about the book and download free resources on it.
2. Follow Eric on Twitter.
3. Read more from Eric on his website.

End Notes:

[1] Eric Geiger, How to Ruin Your Life and Starting Over When You Do (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2018), 8.
[2] Ibid., 14.
[3] Ibid., 3.
[4] Ibid., 45-46.