Entries Tagged 'Legacy' ↓

On Super Bowl Sunday at Centre Grove, I focused on the theme, “Finish Strong,” wearing the Saints’ Finish Strong t-shirt from Finish Strong. “Finish Strong” was the motivating theme for the New Orleans Saints this season. But it’s also an important theme for followers of Jesus!

Here’s a sampling of sports references from Scripture …

1 Corinthians 9.24-27
24 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

Philippians 3.13-14
13 … but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

2 Timothy 4.7-8
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. 8 And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.

Do you hear the drivenness in Paul’s language? He’s driven to finish strong! The truth is, nobody accidentally finishes strong. It takes drive to overcome one of our biggest enemies: apathy/complacency.

Only the driven finish strong!

If there was a Hall of Fame for the people of faith, Hebrews 11 includes a list of those who might be among the first enshrined into the Hall, people like Abraham, Sarah, Noah, Enoch, as well as a number of others.

In Hebrews 12.1-3, the writer suggests that this list of incredible people of faith ought to inspire us to finish strong.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. (Hebrews 12.1)

Of course, the greatest example of someone finishing strong is Jesus. The writer adds …

We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. (Hebrews 12.2-3)

All these people of faith, as well as Jesus, himself, should inspire us to stay the course and finish strong. It takes motivation to strip off every weight that slows us down, to run with endurance, and to keep our eyes on Jesus so that we may finish strong!

Saints’ coach, Sean Payton, used this idea of a “crowd of witnesses” the night before the NFC Championship game against the Minnesota Vikings. According to Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, Coach Payton projected “great moments in sports history went by in rapid-fire order” while Aerosmith’s “Dream On” blared through the speakers.

King describes it …

Babe Ruth homering, Michael Jordan scoring, Pete Maravich floating, Roberto Clemente fielding, Tiger Woodsfist-pumping, Eddie Robinson coaching, Wayne Gretzky scoring, Jim Valvano leaping, Larry Bird shooting, Muhammad Ali punching, the Bears Super Bowl–shuffling, Doug Flutie passing, the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team celebrating—on and on, as goose bumps rose to the pulsating chorus: ‘Dream on, dream on, dream on….’

And when the lights came up, there was Ronnie Lott, a four-time Super Bowl champion … and said, ‘What I wouldn’t give to have the chance to go out there, just one more time, to do what you’re going to do tomorrow. To become a champion again.’

The images and stories of those who’ve gone before us have a powerfully motivating effect on us.

On Sunday evening, the New Orleans Saints definitely finished strong. They were outscored in the first quarter (they were outscored in the first quarter all season), 10-0, but in the other three quarters, they dominated, 31-7, to win the championship game, 31-17.

I think it was the “finish strong” attitude that made the difference in championship game.

During the regular season, when the Colts were 14-0, they stated that a perfect season wasn’t one of their goals (according to team president, Bill Polian, having the longest regular season win streak and the most wins in the decade were more important to them ).

Incidentally, resting players hasn’t worked out real well for the Colts, historically. As I understand it, the one year they won the Super Bowl was the year they couldn’t rest their starters at the end of the season because they had to play all 16 games to get into the playoffs. It could be argued that because of that, they maintained their momentum/intensity until the end and finished strong that year. Peyton Manning’s post-season record is now 9-9.

On the other hand, the Saints, at 13-0, publicly stated that they were going for a perfect season. While they didn’t achieve that goal, that finish strong mentality was evident.

People who exhibit tremendous drive inspire us to be driven, too. As the Scriptures illustrate, we should learn from their example and be equally driven in our quest to follow, and be like, Jesus!

I am surprised by how often the theme of success vs. significance shows up in movies, that is, that significance is more important than success, or that relationships are more important than career.

The basic storyline usually involves a main character who becomes so focused on success that they eventually alienate those around them, usually a significant other.

A few movies quickly come to mind (please add others in the comments below), including Family Man, Liar, Liar, The Devil Wears Prada, and even the holiday classic, It’s a Wonderful Life, which we wrote about last year.

“The Devil Wears Prada” is interesting from a leadership standpoint. It’s a movie about a young aspiring journalist, Andrea (Anne Hathaway), who takes on a job at a fashion magazine as an assistant to the editor. The editor, Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) is a demanding, hard-nosed leader. She personifies success-at-any-cost. As the culture of Runway magazine begins to shape her and becomes more and more wrapped up in her job, her personal life begins to fall apart.

Upon hitting a low point at work, Andrea talks to a co-worker, Nigel (Stanley Tucci), who tells her …

Let me know when your whole life goes up in smoke. Means it’s time for a promotion.

Ultimately, Andrea, like the main characters of similar movies, chooses the path of significance over success-at-any-cost.

In the classic movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” George Bailey (James Stewart), spends all of his adult life searching for success (starting with getting out of Bedford Falls) but never finds it. When he reaches the lowest point of his life, he encounters an angel named Clarence who gives him a glimpse of what life in Bedford Falls (and beyond) would’ve looked like had he not been born. In the process, George discovers that he had indeed lived a life of significance, even though it didn’t go the way he wanted it to.

The last time we watched the movie, Joleen noticed a sign on wall in Uncle Billy’s office just below a picture of Peter Bailey (George’s father) that read …

All you can take with you is that which you’ve given away.

Significance is more important than success-at-any-cost.

At the end of the movie, George receives a book with a note from Clarence that says,

Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends.

Again, significance is the the goal. Relationships matter.

Of course, like many things, it’s not really either/or. You can, and should, seek to be successful, to make the most of the life God has given you. But you may need to adjust your understanding of success. The point is, don’t let success and personal ambition destroy you or the people close to you. Relationships matter; they determine your significance. Success, especially success-at-any-cost, has little value if it alienates you from others.

When push comes to shove, choose significance over success, because, in reality, that’s what real success is.

Can you think of other movies that have a similar theme promoting significance over success?

On the day after Christmas, Joleen and I watched the 1946 movie, It’s a Wonderful Life!, starring James Stewart and Donna Reed. (Who hasn’t seen it?)

For years, we watched the movie every year (during the Christmas season) but took a break from it for a couple years, until this year. It’s a great movie about legacy and influence.

The movie tells the story of George Bailey, a world explorer wannabe, who spends his life trying to escape the small, struggling town of Bedford Falls. But as various circumstances arise, he never gets the chance to leave.

His family’s business, a building and loan company, struggles to stay in business because of Harry Potter’s (Lionel Barrymore) near monopoly on the town. Toward the end of the movie, George’s uncle Billy loses $8,000 of the company’s money, putting them at risk of losing the business and going to prison.

At that point, George has had enough and decides that everyone, including his family, would be better off if he were dead. But as George is preparing to jump into an icy river, an angel named Clarence dives into the river first, knowing George jump in to save him.

During their conversation afterward, George says he wishes he’d never been born. Clarence gets the bright idea to show George what life would have looked like for others had he not been born. The whole experience eventually leads George to the realization that he did, in fact, have a wonderful life.

Most people want their lives to matter, to have influence. George Bailey thought success meant building cities, traveling the world, and making money. But, as he eventually discovered, success is not just about doing great big things. Success is about making a difference in the lives of the people around you.

I have waited 20 years to write this post, even though the blog has only been around a few years.

In the earliest days of my Christ-following journey (as a college student), I read as much as I could about the lives of preachers who’ve gone before us. One of those people was E.M. Bounds, a Methodist preacher in the 1800s (he served as a chaplain in the Confederate Army during the Civil War).

One of Bounds’ major focuses was prayer. I remember reading a little book he wrote on prayer, specifically the prayer life of the preacher. In recent years, I’ve been getting back to Bounds and I’ve picked up a copy of The Complete Works of E. M. Bounds on Prayer, a collection of several little books Bounds wrote on prayer.

In the book on the prayer life of the preacher, Bounds wrote one statement that has stuck with me ever since I read it …

It takes twenty years to make the sermon because it takes twenty years to make the man (woman).

Frankly, I never liked that statement! But that was about 20 years ago, and twenty years later, it makes a lot of sense!

The point Bounds makes, I think, is that it takes time to internalize the message. The sermon grows out of the preacher’s life. The impact of a sermon is not so much in the words the preacher speaks, but in the life the preacher lives. When the preacher’s life speaks volumes about the life of God, the words have real impact in the lives of listeners.

In a follow-up post, which I’ll try to write soon, I’ll write about the process I go through in preparing sermons (which is always in development!). I’ll write about how my process has evolved over the years up till now.

By the way, we really should write more about preaching/communication because it’s been one of the more popular search topics that brings people to the blog (especially One-Point Preaching and StoryMapping, two of the most viewed posts on the blog).

It’s our first day back to work (after parental leave). As we get back to the cause of leading our churches in mission, I’m thinking about an image I saw while we were in Korea.

During our tour of Kwanglim Methodist Church, I saw a large wall poster of John Wesley on horseback, which included the phrase (in English and in Korean): “The world is my parish.”

I saw the poster as we walked by it in the hallway. A couple minutes later, I went back to take a picture of it because it had really caught my attention. Here was this incredible church (70,000+ members) — plus all of the other Methodist churches in Korea — that was the fruit of John Wesley’s amazing ministry.

It’s a good reminder that what we do for God can make an impact on the world — in our lifetimes and beyond. It’s also a good reminder as Joleen and I get back to the mission of leading our churches in the work of God’s kingdom.

Don’t just live a life, leave a legacy!

Awhile back, we watched The Ultimate Gift (official movie/movement website). We watched it again while visiting family in Tennessee earlier this week. It’s a great movie with the tag line, “A life experience becomes a gift.” The movie is based on Jim Stovall’s book, The Ultimate Gift.

The movie begins with the death of Red Stevens (James Garner), a wealthy businessman. One of his family members, Jason Stevens, expects (as does the rest of the family) a big inheritance. Instead, his grandfather recorded several video vignettes during his final days, which become a crash course on life for Jason. Red states …

So I want to give you a gift—a series of gifts leading up to, well, I wanna call it “the ultimate gift.” Now, you fail in any way, it’s over. You get nothing.

During one of his recorded speeches, Red says …

Our lives should be lived not avoiding problems but welcoming them as challenges that will strengthen us so that we can be victorious in the future.

That’s a great statement!

If you watch The Ultimate Gift on DVD, be sure to watch the beginning of the credits at the end of the movie for a recap of the “gifts,” which include:

The gifts of …

• Work
• Money
• Friends
• Learning
• Problems (You don’t begin to live until you lose everything, Red.)
• Family
• Laughter
• Dreams
• Giving
• Gratitude
• A day
• Love

The music in this movie, composed by Mark McKenzie is good. Our favorite is “Something Changed” by Sara Groves. The song is about life transformation. The chorus says …

And I cannot make it. And I cannot fake it. And I can’t afford it. But it’s mine.

The song, which appears on Sara’s 2005 Add to the Beauty CD, proclaims that life change is God’s work — you can’t make it, fake it, or earn it, it’s a gift from God to all who will receive it.

Since the movie we’ve become very interested in Sara’s music! We especially love her latest single (from her upcoming CD, “Tell Me What You Know” called “When the Saints,” an inspirational song for people who want to change the world).

One of the movie’s sponsors, Once Upon a Family, has put together a kit to help families put the message of the movie into practice. As we prepare for parenthood, we’re thinking about things like legacy and developing strong character in children. This movie certainly comes at the right time for us!

The movie reminded us of Leonard Sweet’s book, SoulSalsa, especially the chapter called, “Bounce Your Last Check.” You can read extensive portions of the book at Google Books (scroll down to page 52 to read a portion of this chapter). In the book, which you’ll find in our list of recommend books for leaders, Sweet says, “Soul artists receive good things gratefully and give it all away in the end.”

We strongly recommend “The Ultimate Gift.” Even more importantly, this is a movie that needs to be more than simply watched and enjoyed, it needs to be internalized and put into practice.

May God help us all to leave a legacy!