Legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi once famously quipped, "Winning isn't everything; its the only thing."For the most part, at least when it comes to sports, I have agreed with Lombardi. And yet recent national events have displayed a dark side in taking this axiom to its conclusion. The issue with winning being the only thing, is that sometimes that means it means win at all costs, even if the cost is our ethics, morality and character.
The recent sex abuse allegations surrounding Jerry Sandusky and the Penn State football program have demonstrated the horrific impact of sin, evil, and power. Included in this list also are the gross results of an unhealthy lust for power, status, and winning. Apparently the alleged acts of Sandusky span over many years, and people within the organization have known for many of those years as well. There were people who knew about an incident in 1998 and about one in 2003, and yet it all comes to the surface in 2011. Sandusky has remained connected to the football program in his retirement, even having been on campus as recently as a few weeks before he was arrested.
Penn State has been one of the more storied programs in the nation. Their head coach of over four decades, Joe Paterno has always boasted of doing it the right way, winning with character and integrity, and yet it now appears that he was indeed correct about the winning, but perhaps not so much about the character and integrity. I know at this point my position has become polarizing. There are some who will defend Paterno's action (or inaction) and say that he did nothing wrong and did exactly what he was supposed to do. In some respects one who takes such a position would be correct...Paterno did what we was supposed to do, according to his job, by going through the chain of command and allowing them to do with these reports what they please. However going through the proverbial "chain of command," to me, equates doing the bare minimum. The victims deserved more from the storied coach and program. If my boys were victims I would expect more than just the "chain of command."
What bothers me (among many things) in all of this is we live in a culture that values winning over character. We have for quite sometime and these events simply magnify this reality even more. Some will respond, well yes that is true in the world of sports but sports is not reality. In some ways however I think that sports is a commentary on our overall culture.
I don't live in Happy Valley, but I do live in church world. In church world character, morality and ethics are a given, and yet there still seems to be this lust for winning. I am a pastor and every month I am required to submit information to our conference office:
- average attendance
- number of conversions and baptisms
- number of new members
- number of people attending midweek programs.
In other words, is our church "winning?"
Now don't get me wrong, number of people attending, baptisms, conversions, midweek attendance, offering totals all matter. Healthy things grow and a healthy church should be experiencing these things and I'm thankful in someways that we're held accountable for it. And yet I wonder if winning is what's celebrated most in church world as well. When it comes to what is happening in churches what I often hear about most is: attendance, building campaigns, number of campuses, number of services, how good the worship music is, how good the preaching is, or how many Twitter followers a pastor has.
A lot of talk about winning.
My Superintendent, Mark Adams recently mentioned something at a meeting that struck a chord with me. He mentioned that if one were to look at the qualifications for leadership in the church outlined in the Bible one would discover that they are primarily concerned with character and not skill. So I checked this out. There are several places where leadership qualifications are outlined but let's just look at 1 Timothy 3.1-7 and the qualifications for Elders: above reproach, faithful to one's spouse, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money, must manage one's family well, must not be a recent convert, and have a good reputation with outsiders.
In that list there is one skill: able to teach. I shared this recently with my staff and one suggested that "manages one's family well" is a skill as well. So that means 1 (maybe 2) out of the 14 qualifications has to do with skill. I think the point that Paul is making is that when it comes to leadership in his church, Jesus is looking for people with high character and is less concerned with their skill.
What if every month I was asked these questions:
- How many nights were you at home with your family this month?
- How many dates did you and your spouse go out on?
- Were you hospitable? What strangers did you welcome into your home?
- How did you spend your money?
- Do your kids like you?
- Do people outside of your church like you?
This is a character scorecard.
Back to the sports world, another story dominating the press is that of Tim Tebow, the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos who is outspoken about his Christian faith. In the midst of the Sandusky story is a story of a guy who appears to have high character, struggles at his position and yet wins football games and uses his platform for some good. You would think a story such as Tim Tebow would be a breath of fresh air, and yet the "experts" continue to blast him. In a recent interview with a former Broncos QB when asked about Tebow he said, "I think he's a winner and I respect that about him...I think that when he accepts the fact that we know that he loves Jesus Christ, then I think I'll like him a little better. I don't hate him because of that, I just would rather not have to hear that every time he takes a good snap or makes a good handoff."
Tebow's response: "If you're married and you have a wife and you really love your wife, is it good enough to only say to your wife 'I love her' the day you get married? Or should you tell her every single day when you wake up and every opportunity? That's how I feel about my relationship with Jesus Christ."
I have been pretty indifferent about Tebow and admittedly always approach the character of professional athletes with a bit of skepticism, but I'm rooting for him. I want him to do well. I want to see him win. More than that, I'm rooting for character. I hope the church can turn the tide and place more value on character than winning...and the good news is I think we'll experiencing some "winning" in the process.
So how about I refine Lombardi's quote: "Character isn't everything; its the only thing."
