- Community is essential; the gridiron knows that as well as the Church.
When other states want to feel better about themselves, Mississippi too often serves them well. We are at the bottom of the national lists for far too many positive indicators.
But when it comes to the month of September and the topic of football, you can measure our greatness by the grass blades.
We are among the leading producers per capita of NFL talent, with one NFL player per 92,000 residents or so—more than twice the national rate. And oh my goodness, what a near-embarrassment of riches: Lance Alworth, Willie Brown, Archie Manning, L.C. Greenwood, Walter Payton, Lem Barney, Jackie Slater, Jerry Rice, Brett Favre, Steve McNair, Deuce McAllister.
You’ve got SEC football, HBCU traditions, community college and high school programs that are the envy of the South. Football, for better or worse, is central to the dynamic that is Mississippi. How might the lessons derived from this legacy of excellence be applied in other areas of life…more specifically, to another staple of Mississippi life: our collective spirituality?
Here are some principles that make football great which might be applied in our local churches:
It starts with leadership. There are no great teams without great coaches. These men have different personalities and approaches, but all of them exhibit high standards and incisive knowledge that is far superior to the norm. And they don’t just lead players; they lead other coaches who are willing to submit their own ideas to someone with greater insight and ability. Further, they tend to be inspirational. Players want to excel for them and to rise to a level of effort they rarely show other places in their lives. Good coaches are also excellent with “Xs” and “Os” – they know how to move the pieces on the field in order to maximize scoring on offense and defend the goal line on the other side of the ball. In short, they know what works and are highly proficient at executing well-thought plans.
Great commission churches that are getting things done in and beyond their buildings have similar kinds of leadership. The “leadership lid” is real – rarely do congregations rise above the pastor and his team. The “culture” of a church will first be found among the leaders and what they do or don’t do. Excellent congregational leaders are inspire confidence and have definite plans on how to get things done in and through the church.
Football greatness, like church greatness, takes practice, correction, and sacrifice. If churches has a lack, it is frequently at this point. We like the idea of a football coach yelling at players and dramatically changing their body position and foot placement to maximize potential. But do religious folk want someone in their lives picking up flaws and correcting bad tendencies in order to maximize our spiritual lives for His glory? In Christian history some people have said “Yes” to this challenge. The old Methodist band meetings started with these questions: “What known sins have you committed since our last meeting?” and “What temptations have you met with?” The group leaders would always begin by answering these questions themselves before posing them to the rest of the participants. Everyone was expected to be honest, humble, and open to correction. Those who tried to conceal their shortcomings and persisted in disobedience, once found out, be removed from the group.
When it comes to football there obviously, a huge difference between being a player and being a spectator. Bud Wilkinson, the legendary University of Oklahoma football coach, reportedly once said that “Football is 50,000 people who desperately need exercise watching 22 men who desperately need rest.” In football as in the church, there are far too many watching things happen and too few participating to make sure God’s will is accomplished.
But one of my favorite lessons from athletics and accomplishment as it corresponds to the local church is this: no one gets to the pinnacle of accomplishment alone. Benjamin Bloom, in his volume titled Developing Talent in Young People, claims that when extraordinary talent rises to a level of excellence, “No one reached the limits of learning in a talent field on his or her own. Families and teachers were crucial at every point along the way to excellence. What the families and the teachers do at different times and how they do it clearly sets the stage for exceptional learning.”
Which brings us to that old African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Bloom would insist it takes that to raise an outstanding football player. And the Church should recognize that the same is true of raising a child who becomes a holy adult. Community is essential; the gridiron knows that as well as the Church.
Matt Friedeman
