"Vince Lombardi
Could Have Been a Lutheran"
Could Have Been a Lutheran"
2.2.11
So, you liked the movie 'Groundhog Day?' Bill Murry? Repetition? Redundancy? Deja Vu? Well, whether we like it or not...there are some things we just must do over and over... and to be specific about the Christian faith...there are some things that we find ourselves doing over and over and when we do we call that "practicing our faith" so that when the occasion arise when we need to USE our faith... we have a faith to use!
And if we go to the coaching world, we will find the value of repetition in some the great quotes of the great Green Bay Packer coach, Vince Lombardi. Look carefully, coach could have been a Lutheran... that is if your geography teacher will allow you to stretch northern Italy all the way to southern Bavaria...or that there might have been plenty of Wisconsin Lutherans in VL's neighborhood!
Consider the wisdom of "Coach" ...
ON TEAMWORK
- “The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.”
- “People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problems of modern society.” or
- “Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”
- “Once a man has made a commitment to a way of life, he puts the greatest strength in the world behind him. It’s something we call heart power. Once a man has made this commitment, nothing will stop him short of success.”
- “The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.”
- “I’ve never known a man worth his salt who, in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn’t appreciate the grind, the discipline."
- “There is something good in men that really yearn for discipline.”
- “The good Lord gave you a body that can stand most anything. It’s your mind you have to convince.”
- “Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.”
- “It is essential to understand that battles are primarily won in the hearts of men. Men respond to leadership in a most remarkable way and once you have won his heart, he will follow you anywhere.”
- “Leadership is based on a spiritual quality --- the power to inspire, the power to inspire others to follow.”
- “I believe in God.”
- “I derived my strength from daily mass and communion.”
Did you catch that last quote... deriving his strength from daily mass and Eucharist-- the power of God that comes to him not from inside...but outside! Most Lutheran churches I know don't hold daily Eucharist services...but it's obvious to guys like me that VL knew the value of living in the rhythm of confession and forgiveness and reaching his hands out to the passion of God in order to use such an extraordinary power to lead others... aka 'the means of grace' which changes the world...
If we take the 'football' life quotes and translate them into Lutheran Church and Christian journey mantras we see quickly how our church and how our Lutheran Men in Mission can be strengthened and focused in ways we have yet to discover... so take advantage of those great faith behaviors we share...
+ PRAY + WORSHIP + STUDY + INVITE + + ENCOURAGE GIVE + SERVE +
When I read between the lines, I see in VL the understanding that every man has been given all the gifts necessary to do well in life and that these gifts are given to us in BAPTISM...remember in the Nicene Creed we call the Holy Spirit..."the Lord and Giver of Life"... and the good news for people like us is that we get to spend a lifetime discovering what those gifts are... perhaps it's part of the gift of Jesus when he said, "I have come to give you life... and life of abundance..."
So here's to Groundhog Day! Here's doing good things over and over that in that repetition of good things we find ourselves at our best being strong and serving the world in Jesus' name...
We're down to less than 2 weeks to get our men signed up to attend the gathering in Brenham...
Here's the link to register on line and the listing the agenda...
http://txlamen.org/
Housing for Friday night is at the Coach Light Inn... http://www.coachlightinnbrenham.com/
One man at a time; no man left behind,
Brian
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