FIVE TRAITS OF A SUPER BOWL CHRISTIAN
In a few minutes a game of great importance will be played. Large men will face off across a line of scrimmage. A call will be made, leather will slap, and bodies will collide and crash. A battle has begun. For four 15 minute quarters men will expend enormous energy and Herculean efforts to move a piece of pig skin up and down a field of grass. In the end one team will emerge victorious.
Much is riding on this game. Around the world tens of millions will be watching. Today fortunes will be made and lost. Unofficial estimates of sports betting topped over 4.5 billion dollars as of yesterday afternoon. Tonight Americans will be glued to their television sets, all wanting the answer to one question: "Who will win?"
One way to answer such a question is to ask, what does it take to become a Super Bowl champion?
Can you tell me? __________
Let me tell you who will win. The winner of tonight’s game will be the team that exhibits 5 specific traits.
The team that has the greatest desire,
The team that is the most disciplined,
The team that has the most commitment and focus,
The team that is willing to sacrifice all,
The team that possess the greatest character.
That team, whoever it may be, will win the Super Bowl!
In football, many people play the game. But there are only a few that rise to the status of a Super Bowl Champion. Do you know where the rest of the NFL is tonight? At home watching the game. What separates a Super Bowl Championship team from the team with the worst record? It is desire, discipline, commitment and focus, sacrifice, and character, applied day in and day out.
Vince Lombardi, former coach of the Green Bay Packers, and the winning coach of Super Bowl I stated in a speech called "What it takes to be number 1":
"Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.
Every time a football player goes to play his trade he’s got to play from the ground up-from the soles of his feet right up to his head. Every inch of him has to play."
Brothers and sisters in Christ, I want you to know that another game is being played tonight, and you are a part of that game. But, unlike the super bowl, your game is continuous and it has eternal consequences.
Yet, like the NFL, only a few Christians will rise to the level of play exhibited by a Super Bowl Champion. So my question for you this evening, is what does it take to be a Super Bowl Christian? What separates a champion from a bush leaguer.
The five traits that define a Super Bowl Team are the same traits that define a Super Bowl Christian: desire, discipline, commitment, sacrifice, and character.
We find these traits in two passages of scripture. Please take your Bibles and turn to
I Corinthians 9:24-27,
"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."
Phillipians 3:12-14
"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
In the Corinthian passage Paul is speaking of the Isthmian games which were held every two years in Corinth. There athletes would compete for crowns made of leaves. However, Paul was encouraging Christians to compete for a prize with more lasting significance.
(Transition)
1. THE FIRST TRAIT OF A SUPER BOWL CHRISTIAN IS DESIRE.
Paul says "Run to win!"
Desire is to want something. Great desire is to want something so bad that you can taste it.
For the Super Bowl Christian, there is no greater desire than to be in a close dynamic relationship with their Savior. That great Bible teacher J. Vernon McGee said, "that the highest desire that can possess any heart is a longing to see God."
Such a desire for God should compel us and propel us to run with all that we have. Unfortunately, instead of going for the gold, we too often settle for silver or bronze. In fact I’m convinced that most believers never venture too far past the starting line. Instead of straining and pressing on, we get comfortable on the sidelines.
What does it take to make a pro athlete? It begins with a burning desire to compete and win.
Vince Lombardi said,
"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will."
Paul had such a desire. He was the Bart Star, the Vince Lombardi of early Christianity. And he desires that you and I be the same.
(Transition)
Yet, desire alone is not sufficient. Desires only take shape when they are accompanied by discipline!
(A lot of us desire to lose weight; but, without discipline it won’t happen.
I may have the ’wanna’,
But if I don’t have the ’gotta’,
I’m never going to have the ’getta’.
2. THE SECOND TRAIT OF A SUPER BOWL CHRISTIAN IS
DISCIPLINE.
Discipline is the fuel of success. You may be the prettiest car in the show room, but without gas you’re going nowhere.
Without discipline in the Christian life you will never grow. You will be forever doomed as a spiritual weakling, easy prey for Satan and his team of evil minions. Worse, you may be so weak that he decides that you’re not worth his efforts.
To attempt to live the Christian life without spiritual discipline would be like Don Knotts climbing into the ring with Mike Tyson. Somebody’s going to get hurt - real bad!
Paul tells us that a competitor goes into "strict training".
He beat his body
He strained and pressed on.
Like a body builder who adds more weight and extra reps in order to increase his muscle mass, Paul felt the burn and pushed pasted it.
Why? Because he needed the muscle and the skill in order to effectively pursue his desire.
Brothers and sisters, maturity in Christ doesn’t just happen. It takes hard work.
I Timothy 4:7 says,
"Train yourself to be godly."
Hebrews 12:7 states,
"Endure hardship"
As there are no short cuts to peak physical condition,
there are no short cuts to peak spiritual condition
Unfortunately, too many Christians run aimlessly. They’ll never win the prize because they refuse to train.
The word discipline has become a dirty word in our culture. It isn’t easy,it’s not fun; yet, discipline is essential to success.
Tom Landry, former coach of the Dallas Cowboys said,
"The job of a football coach is to make men do what they don’t want to do, in order to achieve what they’ve always wanted to be."
Most of us want to win, we just don’t want to suffer.
(Transition)
Discipline puts feet to a Christian’s desire to become a Super Bowl Christian. Yet, to perform at the highest level, a Christian has to be focused and committed.
3. THE THIRD TRAIT OF A SUPER BOWL CHRISTIAN IS
COMMITMENT.
Focus and commitment will determine whether or not you view Christianity as a recreational sport or a serious pro competition.
Unfortunately, commitment is a dying quality in American life. It is a quality known to prior generations; yet, ruefully lacking in the Baby Boom generation and the younger generations. (the younger generations learned well from their Baby Boomer parents)
When life gets tough, the Baby Boomers check out other options and alternatives. We see this trend in every area of life. Focus and commitment, stick-to-it-iveness, have become passe. Yet, a super bowl quality performance cannot be achieved without it.
All life activities have their ups and downs. Only those who are committed to riding out the crests and the troughs will succeed.
In Phil 3 Paul said that he pressed on toward the goal. He was focused and committed to completing his own Super Bowl. He didn’t give up on "4th and 20". He kept the end game in mind.
Vince Lombardi said, "The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor." "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."
In 1998 Quarterback Tony Rice led Notre Dame’s football team to a national championship. Before the season, sportswriters wondered whether Notre Dame could beat the tough teams with a quarterback like Rice, whose passing often was inaccurate. They didn’t know that coach Lou Holtz had bought Rice a dart board and told him to practice throwing darts an hour a day. Rice didn’t see how that would help his passing, but he did as his coach said. He was committed and focused. Soon he began to throw passes with more accuracy and confidence--both of which were evidenced in a banner season.
Christian brothers and sisters, focus and commitment make the difference between a Christian bush leaguer and a Super Bowl Champion.
This step is crucial. Without laser point focus and commitment we fracture into too many areas. We become double minded. The book of James tells us that a double minded man is unstable in all he does.
(Transition)
Well, we have desire, discipline, and commitment. The next trait to becoming a Super Bowl Christian is a natural out growth of the first three.
4. THE FOURTH TRAIT OF A SUPER BOWL CHRISTIAN IS
SACRIFICE.
The key to success in any venue is a willingness to sacrifice.
Hebrews 12:1 tells us to "throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."
To sacrifice is to give up something for a specific purpose.
To sacrifice you pay a price.
Vince Lombardi said, "Success is like anything worthwhile. It has a price. You have to pay the price to win and you have to pay the price to get to the point where success is possible. Most important, you must pay the price to stay there." "Football is a great deal like life in that it teaches that work, sacrifice, perseverance, competitive drive, selflessness and respect for authority is the price that each and every one of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile."
A Super Bowl Christian will sacrifice.
There are things that they will give up, and things that they will take up.
They will give up pet sins,
They will take up burdensome crosses.
They will give up freedoms
They will take up submission
In doing so their time, their thinking, and their actions will be radically changed.
The beauty of sacrifice and the burden of sacrifice, is that it’s not just a one time event. The Super Bowl Christian, like the Super Bowl athlete, continually trains and sacrifices. There is no off season. Paul did not rest on his laurels, not even when he was old. He continued to press on. He knew that the goal line was still a few yards ahead. He wouldn’t reach it until he closed his eyes in death.
(Transition)
The final trait, is an element that ties the previous four together and gives them shape.
5. THE FIFTH TRAIT OF A SUPER BOWL CHRISTIAN IS
CHARACTER.
Charles Reade, English novelist and dramatist, wrote, "Sow an act, and you reap a habit. Sow a habit, and you reap a character. Sow a character, and you reap a destiny."
Without exception every successful super bowl team has a game plan that integrates all the elements of their training into a winning strategy.
For the Super Bowl Christian character is the element that integrates desire, discipline, commitment, and sacrifice together.
Character for the Christian can be defined as Christ likeness. Looking more and more like the Savior was why Paul trained so hard.
In Philippians 3:10 Paul said
"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him . . ."
Paul acknowledged that he was not yet there. But he was moving in that direction. Each day he drew closer because
He had the desire,
He was disciplined
He was committed and focused
He was willing to sacrifice
And he was developing godly character.
Paul lost his life to a Roman sword.
With the drawing of his last breath he crossed the goal line of glory. The time clock sounded and he had won the game. Paul was a Super Bowl Christian. Waiting for him on the other side was a prize. A prize greater than any super bowl ring. For Paul there would be crowns that will last for eternity.
CONCLUSION:
In a few minutes a game of great importance will be played. Large men will face off across a line of scrimmage. A call will be made, leather will slap, and bodies will collide and crash. A battle has begun. For four 15 minute quarters men will expend enormous energy and Herculean efforts to move a piece of pig skin up and down a field of grass. In the end one team will emerge victorious.
A trophy will be rewarded
Rings will be presented
Cash will be given
Glory will be bestowed
Advertising contracts will be awarded
And one team will have bragging rights for a year.
Yet today a greater game of importance is being played, and you are a key player on the field. You have the opportunity to play for eternal rewards. You can win a prize that will never dim. The outcome is up to you.
Will you choose to be a bush league Christian, or will you choose to become a Super Bowl Christian.
Do you have the desire
Are you willing to discipline yourself
Are you focused and committed
Are you willing to make the sacrifices
Do you have the character?
Let’s pray.
