That led us yesterday in our Super Sunday church services
to ask the question, “What is true success?” This fit in nicely with the
challenges I have been giving the youth on Sunday nights to set the bar higher,
to strive to achieve more, etc.
In the midst of preparing for yesterday’s services Pastor
Joel invited a former Super Bowl champion (1992 Dallas Cowboys), Vinson Smith,
to meet with the pastoral staff during the week to be interviewed about his
experiences. Vinson agreed and gave some great on-camera answers that fed into
great spiritual lessons…
 |
| Me and Vinson Smith |
He talked of his love for Christ; his love for his mom; his
joy in graduating college (which he ranked higher than winning the Super Bowl);
his team’s work ethic and camaraderie; and yes the amazing feeling of winning
the big game: all great and inspirational lessons.
Yet a statement he made off-camera greatly caught my
attention and also made it into both Joel’s and my messages yesterday. When
discussing his teammates he stated that winning the Super Bowl changed each
player’s life. Then he hit the real attention grabber by stating that some of
the changes were for the good but most for the bad. What most would consider “success”
actually led to moral failure in many of his teammates. Maybe winning the Super
Bowl was only a measure of football success and not necessarily a measure of
success in life?
When Vinson mentioned the most amazing person he knew he
talked of his mom, not of the great players he played beside (such as Troy
Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, etc.) He talked of a person that truly
made a difference in his life and didn’t just win trophies with him. He talked
of a person that was the reason he wanted “to grow up and be a man and be a
good one.” He talked of a lady that he called his “greatest inspiration.” To me
this lady sounds more like a life success…
Today I had the privilege of joining in the celebration of
the life of my dear friend Rick Lewis’ mom, Marjie. She passed away this last
Friday and I was honored to hear person after person account for a lady that
loved the Lord; a lady that loved others; a lady that volunteered to help
others; a lady that was a great wife and mother. To me this lady sounds like
more like a life of success…
Just last night I encouraged a group of youth to
contemplate how important the dash between the numbers on their tombstone will
be; it represents a life… What will people say when we are gone?
The older I get the more I realize that success is not
measured truly by bank accounts and trophies; but instead by loving God and
loving others! (See Matthew 22:37-38)
The older I get the more I realize that the world’s idea
of success or the lack of success can often be a distraction or a hindrance to
honoring God. I want a life of balance. (See Proverbs 30:7-9)
And by the way - even if you could take it with you, the
trophies/rings would just be melted down into pavement…
1 comment:
Nice blog work. I came across your blog while “blog surfing” using the Next Blog button on the Nav Bar located at the top of my blogger.com site. I frequently just travel around looking for other blogs which exist on the Internet, and the various, creative ways in which people express themselves. Thanks for sharing, and I hope that the start of your New Year has been good thus far.
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