.Frank Reich in the late 90's led the greatest comeback in NFL Playoff history with the Buffalo Bills. Jim Kelly, future hall of fame quarterback, was injured. The Buffalo Bills trailed 35-3 just a few minutes into the 3rd quarter. Frank had been playing poorly already but remembered a song from earlier in the week. His sister had gotten him to listen to the song In Christ Alone and he was hooked. He listened to the song every chance he got leading up to the game and when he was down he began quoting the lyrics on the field.
After he led the comeback a post game interview was conducted...in his words….As I stood behind the podium, typically they just start firing questions at you, and I just said, 'Before you ask me any questions, I want to share the lyrics to a song that have inspired me this week. Then I read the lyrics to 'In Christ Alone:' 'Christ alone will I glory, though I could pride myself in battles won, for I have been blessed beyond measure, and by his strength alone I overcome.'After that whole game was over and the lyrics were read, it seemed as if that song was written for that one game in time," Reich continues. "What I have since realized is that the song and the lyrics are really about everyday Christian living. In every victory, let it be said of me that my source of strength and my source of hope is in Christ alone." We can be men and women of character but not have the character of this young man in front of millions of viewers and hundreds of reporters to give the glory to someone other than himself. This was extraordinary. In a time when a man could have pointed to himself as one of the greatest men of all time, he pointed to God. His character was/is incredible. In life we are asked to accomplish some very tall tasks, tasks that may seem impossible, and when we do, we jump for joy and ask all to come around and see what we have done. Tom Hanks, in Cast Away, finally created a fire after a multitude of failures, and he stood next to the fire with arms raised and said in a deep, loud voice … "Look what I have created." We are just like Tom Hanks. We stand over the things we have created, built, designed, accomplished, and we declare for all the world to see, "Look what I have created." After all, it only takes a click. Facebook. Snapchat. Instagram. Twitter. Social media outlets provide an avenue for us to gloat on a greater scale than ever before. Our accomplishments our goals are ours. We take the glory with every victory every accomplishment. We are selfish. We are prideful. And what makes matters worse is that we don't see anything wrong with it. Students notice the behavior of famous people and follow along. It is the norm for the glory to be granted to the person performing the task. However, victory/accomplishment rarely lies in the hand of one single individual. It usually takes more than just one to get to victory. A great running back has a great offensive line. A great pitcher has a great defense behind him. An amazing lawyer has a team of professionals researching and gaining evidence. A great businessman has a great team of administrators and laborers working toward the same goal. The glory is rarely just ours, just an individual's. In Matthew 6:1-18, Jesus, standing before hundreds of people, declares for all to see and hear that our accomplishments are not to be performed before men...they are to be performed before God. "Be on your guard not to perform your pious deeds before others to be seen by them." In this week's blog, we will explore our motivation for righteous living. Are we living for ourselves, or are we living for Christ's glory? Are we doing the right thing because it is the right thing, or is it because of the reaction we will receive from others? Stay tuned!
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