Quote from Forum Archives on January 17, 2005, 11:42 am

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

MVP
January 16, 2005

Text: John 1:29-42

I enjoy watching a variety of sporting events, but I am not what you
would call a fanatic. I do not have tons of baseball, football,
basketball, or any other sporting statistics crammed into my head. For
the most part, I don’t even know who plays for which team. Joe will be
talking along about so-and-so, and I will not even know what team he’s
talking about. Or he’ll ask me if so-and-so plays for such-and-such team,
and about the only answer I can muster is the blank stare.

Indeed, I have watched only two complete Indiana Colts games so far this
season. But when I did have the time to watch a Colts game, I recognized
right away the skill and genius of their celebrated quarterback, Peyton
Manning. His ability to call plays, make adjustments as he surveys the
opponent’s defense, and execute the play is phenomenal. There is no doubt
that he is a football genius. My personal prediction is that he will go
on to be a head coach in the NFL following his quarterback career. If
that happens, remember you heard it here first. If it doesn’t happen,
don’t bother to write to tell me I was wrong; I get plenty of those
letters.

Not only is Manning a genius at being able to read and react to the
defensive sets, he is also an amazingly skillful player. At the outset of
this football season, the numbers 47 or 48 or 49 meant nothing to me. But
49 is a well-known number now in the football world. It is the number of
regular season touchdown passes that a quarterback will have to throw in
order to tie Manning’s new record. Doesn’t sound like a whole lot, does
it? Yet, any sports expert you hear will tell you that they expect this
record to stand for several years. For this and other achievements,
Peyton Manning was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) last week.

Well, this morning’s sermon is not really all about Peyton Manning,
although I know some people who would not mind that. But looking at the
success of others such as Manning can help us recognize elements of our
lifestyle choices, things in our lives that we can control, which can
lead to our own success. People can be motivated by hearing about the
steps to success of others and applying them to their own lives.

In fact and in truth, God’s Word has been doing this very thing for
centuries. The principles of discipline and sacrifice and leadership have
been basic elements of spiritual success taught from the Bible for ages.
Two of the elements that I am certain Manning has applied to his
successful career come straight out of the Bible and are evident in this
morning’s Scripture reading from John 1. Those two elements are
discipleship and teamwork.

It doesn’t take anyone who likes football at least a little bit very long
to recognize what an awesome quarterback Manning is. He is a total
package. There are quarterbacks who have the ability to discern and
interpret the opponent’s intentions and to make appropriate adjustments.
There are quarterbacks who have excellent passing and ball handling
skills. There are far fewer quarterbacks who can combine both.

Does anyone here believe that Peyton Manning just woke up one morning,
decided that he was going to be an NFL MVP quarterback, and suddenly had
all the skills he needed to succeed? Hardly. The abilities Manning has
today come from many years of dedication and effort. As a boy, Peyton had
the advantage of having another successful NFL player as his father:
Archie Manning. So Peyton appears to have had the enviable combination of
natural ability, learned skills, and a built-in coach. But I do not think
that those fortuitous things automatically spelled Peyton’s success. I do
not know his biography, but I do believe that at some time in some way
Peyton made a decision to want to learn how to be a quarterback. At some
point, whether he knew it or not, he decided and determined that he
wanted to be a disciple. At that point, he was willing to learn; he was
willing to be taught; he was willing to put some of his pride on the
backburner and admit that he didn‘t know it all.

We learn from the Bible that John the Baptist had a following of
disciples. In those days, disciples were followers who sought to learn
from a particular teacher or coach. Being a disciple usually meant
sacrifice, since a disciple had to give up his own comforts and his own
ambitions in order to live with and learn from his teacher. John had
disciples who were seeking to improve their spiritual lives and walk
closer with God.

During one of his encounters with Jesus, John said, “This is the one I
meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he
was before me.’” John the Baptist acknowledges the superiority of Jesus.
In verse 35, we read of his next encounter, “The next day John was there
again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said,
‘Look, the Lamb of God!’ When the two disciples heard him say this, they
followed Jesus.”

These two disciples, Andrew being one of them, sought to learn about God.
And they sought to learn from the best. They were willing to set aside
obstacles to learning and follow Jesus. I imagine that during his
childhood football career, Peyton experienced times when he was “better
than everyone else.“ He probably could have developed the arrogant
attitude that he “knew it all,” and that he did not need further
coaching. Had he quit at that level of his training, he would not be MVP
today.

Andrew and his friend could have been like that. They could have looked
at Jesus, this newcomer on the scene, and said something like, “Huh!
Who’s this guy? I’ve been learning from John for years, growing in my
spiritual vitality, and now this character shows up and thinks he can
take over? I don’t think so.” Andrew didn’t demonstrate that at all. He
accepted his teacher’s word that Jesus was far better than John was.
Seeking to be a successful follower of God, Andrew decided to follow an
even better teacher. “They followed Jesus.”

In order to be spiritual MVPs, Christians need to be willing learners and
willing teachers. Christians who fail to develop an attitude of willing
learning from God and experienced disciples can never hope to achieve MVP
status. Those who stop learning stop improving their spiritual discipline
skills.

Christians must be willing teachers, as well, because there are always
those newer to the Christian faith and spiritual life who need to be
coached. They need to know the foundational basics of the Christian life,
learn their spiritual gifts, and discover how to apply their developing
skills in the real world. Not even the earliest churches of the Christian
faith were without disciples who had developed significant levels of
maturity that they could pass on to newer believers. Discipleship is a
necessary ingredient for anyone developing into a spiritual MVP.

Another element is teamwork. Peyton Manning knows very well that his
success is very dependent upon the other players on the field, both
offense and defense, and the rest of the team no matter what their role.
Without the blocking, the tackling, the rushing, the kicking, the
blitzing, and the catching of all those passes he throws, Manning would
have very little success no matter what skill levels he attained.

Jesus knew the importance of teamwork as well. Before he embarked upon
his three year ministry on earth, he put together a team of disciples. He
sought out twelve who would form the most intimate group, and he
encouraged others who believed to follow and participate. “Turning
around, Jesus saw them following and asked, ‘What do you want?’ They
said, ‘Rabbi’ (which means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ ‘Come,’ he
replied, ‘and you will see.’ So they went and saw where he was staying,
and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.” In this brief
dialogue, John indicates that the disciples were interested in Jesus and
that Jesus was interested in these disciples. They were forming a team
that was to hold together and expand through some very tough times.

Jesus was not the only team builder here. That’s what you want to see in
effective teamwork; not only is the leader a team builder, but so are the
team members. Andrew was interested in teamwork. “Andrew, Simon Peter's
brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had
followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon
and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (that is, the Christ). And he
brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of
John. You will be called Cephas’ (which, when translated, is Peter).”

Now this is quite a remarkable act on Andrew’s part. Andrew no doubt knew
what his brother was like. Simon was a “step-in-and-take-over” kind of
guy. Andrew probably knew that if he got his brother involved, that he
would probably remain in his brother’s shadow. If Andrew was the older of
the two, he could have kept his pesky younger brother out of the picture
by telling him to stay at home. If Andrew was the younger of the two, he
could have used this new position with Jesus to hold some clout over his
brother later on. He took neither of those actions. Instead, he brought
his brother to Jesus.

That’s the way of teamwork and discipleship. Even if it means that you
might lose some of your prestige because another team member is more
skillful, you still work for the team. There have been cases where
players have lost their starting positions to younger, more skillful
players and remained a vital part of the team by taking the new player
under their wing and showing them the ropes. It takes quite a bit of
humility to be that kind of a team player, but that is exactly what it
takes to be a spiritual MVP.

In fact, upon his introduction, Jesus renamed Simon to Cephas, or Peter.
The name means “rock” in the Aramaic and Greek languages. I don’t know
that being called a “rock” is always a compliment. When someone says,
“He’s as smart as a rock,” it is not complimentary. But to be called a
“rock” and mean that the person is firm and steadfast is complimentary.
Jesus probably saw both attributes in Simon, as later events bore out.
Nevertheless, Andrew must have known right then that his brother was
being recognized for his special attributes, yet Andrew did not balk. In
fact, from this brief Biblical witness of Andrew’s willingness to be a
team player, he has received his own MVP recognition. Whose name quickly
comes to mind if you hear someone talking about modern evangelism
crusades? Sure, Billy Graham, one of God’s modern spiritual MVPs. Before
every Billy Graham crusade they do something called “Operation Andrew.”
The basic idea behind Operation Andrew is that people who know Jesus
encourage their loved ones who do not know Jesus to attend the crusade.
“We don’t know how many other people Andrew brought to salvation,” says
Billy Graham Ministries. “But the record on that first one is crystal
clear. Simon Peter became, by God’s grace, one of the dynamos that
powered the early church.” (“The Thrill of the Skill,” Homiletics, vol.
17 no. 1, 2005, p. 28) Without that encouragement to invite family
members and friends to the crusades, how much less impact would Billy
Graham’s ministries have had throughout the world? What greater testimony
to the power of teamwork can there be than that?

Discipleship and teamwork. These are vital elements to any organization
that wants to experience MVP success. How much more vital are they, then,
to the person and the fellowship that wants to attain spiritual MVP
levels? The Gospel of John makes it clear. They are at the top of the
list. If we cannot intentionally work on improving our skill in those two
areas, we are not going to go very far in our spiritual development. Oh,
we’ll still have players on the field even without discipleship and
teamwork. After all, salvation is God’s gift to us. But we can’t expect
to reach MVP status if we cannot pay attention to God’s design and
purpose for our lives. God loves us. He knows what is best for us. He has
created us to worship and serve Him. Discipleship and teamwork are two of
those ingredients that facilitate the accomplishment of allowing God to
fulfill His purpose in and for our lives. Choosing to believe in and
serve God moves us closer to Him and the fulfillment of His purpose in
our lives. All of us can be God’s MVP.

Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN