Most people think of AIDS as being transmitted sexually or through intravenous drug use. There are few actual cases of anyone contracting the virus in other ways. However, there is the case of two brothers. One of the brothers had advanced symptoms of AIDS. The other brother was not infected at all with the deadly disease. Then one day the two brothers got into a very violent fight. The infected brother continuously smashed his head against his brother's head. Both men bled a great deal into each other's exposed wounds. Soon after this episode the non-infected brother tested positive for the virus.

It is stories like these that have caused the medical community to revisit how they view sports. The Center for Disease Control did conduct one study a few years ago, reviewing eleven NFL teams playing 155 games. The scientists recorded 575 bleeding injuries. From this they calculated that the risk of getting AIDS on the field was 1 in 85 million. According to official records there has not been a case of transmission on the field to date.

However, minds were challenged again in the sport of boxing. In February of 1996, a boxer by the name of Tommy Morrison announced to the world that he is HIV-positive. It turns out that Tommy had been very active in areas beyond boxing. Because of his fame, which had also extended into some television appearances, Tommy was very attractive to a lot of women. Tommy soon discovered that he could have almost any woman he wanted at any time. Because of this philandering activity, Tommy became HIV-positive.

Tommy Morrison described himself and many others when he tried to explain how this could happen. Yes, he gave the normal reflection that he never thought that this could ever happen to him. No, he was not careful but instead very reckless. Perhaps he stated the situation best when he said, "I thought that I was bulletproof."

Wasn't that the problem that Jesus saw in the many arrogant religious leaders of his day? Isn't that our problem when we try to live lives that are distant from God? Couldn't we say along with Tommy Morrison, "I thought I was bulletproof"?

Adapted by Time (New York City: Time-Life Syndication), February 26, 1996, p. 59.