Monday Morning Insights

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    What Church Leaders Can Learn from Brett Favre

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    1) He Showed up to Play Every Sunday.
    Regardless of what was happening in his life (i.e. his father’s death and his wife’s cancer), he still found a way to get to the game on time.

    2) He Played Through the Hurts.
    I’ve watched just about every Packer game since Favre’s debut. I’ve seen him clobbered, hammered, hamstrung, smashed, and boggled. Yet, Brett kept getting back on his feet again. Remember the year when he played half a season with a broken thumb? Somehow, the desire for victory was far greater than the physical pain.

    3) He Took Risks and Made Plenty of Mistakes.
    Not only does he hold the career touchdown record, he holds the interception record as well. You can’t win big by playing it safe. Consider the turtle, who makes no progress until he sticks his neck out. Brett stuck his neck out all the time.
    On countless occasions, I’ve seen him do something crazy, and yelled, “NO!! NO!! DON’T DO THAT!!” But then, it’s the crazy passes, completed as touchdowns which will go down in history as the greatest and most memorable.

    4) After He Blew It, He Shook it Off.
    Nothing could rattle his confidence. On the next set of downs after an interception, he’d throw deep (and crazy) again. Favre didn’t allow failure to be final and always believed that setbacks are supposed to be followed by come-backs.
    He never blamed others for his mistakes, and always took responsibility for losses on the field.

    5) He Inspired the Team.
    Brett always had a good word of encouragement for the younger guys around him. I remember when Ryan Longwell, as a rookie kicker, muffed an easy field goal against the Eagles, and lost the game. The crowd booed. Favre went over to his dejected teammate and said, “Hey, don’t worry about it. It’s not your fault. We lost this thing together.”
    Mark has a couple other observations that you’ll want to read here...

    Mark Wilson had a nice piece on some things that church leaders can learn from Brett Favre. Mark writes, "My 19 year old son, Ryan, said that he has never seen a Packer game without Brett Favre at the helm. It's sure going to be different now, and poor Rogers has some huge shoes to fill. After pondering over what made Favre such a great champion, here are a few sentimental observations...

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    1. CS on Thu, March 06, 2008

      Todd:


      You missed one.


      6) He was adaptable. 


      Have you ever walked in on church on Sunday only to find that the parishioners have put themselves into a nickel defense, blocking the doors and covering the two side exits with their free safeties?  After watching Favre and his example, you know what to do. 


      Drop back into the pocket/narthex, send your kids past the ushers on a dash to children’s ministry on the outside, and do a sneak with your tailback/wife, charging headlong towards the altar to grab a first down/pew.


      —


      CS

    2. Peter Hamm on Thu, March 06, 2008

      7)


      He quit while he was ahead, and decided to put his family first.

    3. Bart on Thu, March 06, 2008

      I love great players and Favre is certainly one of them, but what things can we learn from him that we should avoid?


      1. He showed upevery Sunday.   Was he willing to sacrifice his health, and the lives of his family for the game? 


      2.  He played through the hurts.  When do you not play but heal?


      3.  He took risks.  Risks are not necessarily Biblical.  Are we spending too much time, energy, and money for something that is not from God, but just a risk?


      4.  He inspired the team.  When is inspiring you team beyond working for God?  See denominational questions from a few days ago.


      5.  He quit while he could still play.  Some of my retired members think retirment from jobs also means retirment from service and using thier talents for God.


      The trouble with annalogies like this is that you can make them what ever you want them to be.  I wish him well!


      P.S.—GO VIKINGS!!

    4. Peter Hamm on Thu, March 06, 2008

      Bart,


      Good points, but I can turn them around again.


      1. Showing up every Sunday implies and requires that I take care of myself and my loved ones during the week so I can do that.


      2. I have “played hurt” many times on Sunday as a Worship Leader (not taking the day off when sick, etc), and when I am weak, he is strong. Playing hurt lets God work through me in a whole other dimension.


      3. Risks are indeed biblical. It was a risk to leave Egypt, it was a risk to trust a rabbi who didn’t fit in with the establishment, but he ended up being the Messiah after all.


      4. Inspired preaching from Peter on Pentecost, from Paul on many occasions inspired people with God’s truth.


      5. “quitting while you could still play” might mean that you are making room for others to come up in leadership and service in areas that you are capable of, under your mentorship, so that when you can’t play anymore, they will be all ready to take over. If you wait till you can’t play anymore, the hands-on mentoring is tough at best.


      However, the one thing I wanted to correct the most was your postscript.


      GO SKINS! hee hee…

    5. CS on Thu, March 06, 2008

      Bart:


      “The trouble with annalogies like this is that you can make them what ever you want them to be.”


      A very wise point indeed.


      —


      CS

    6. Leonard on Thu, March 06, 2008

      GO GOD’S TEAM….RAIDERS

    7. Bart on Thu, March 06, 2008

      Leonard,


      I am praying for you!!!

    8. Jermayn Parker on Thu, March 06, 2008

      @Brat????? Risks are life, ministry is a risk, reaching out to someone is a risk, trusting your life to someone who cant visably see is a risk, salvation is a risk. A lot of people in the bible took risks and with God on your side, those risks are not risky but safe.


      and btw American football :thumbs down:, got to learn a real game like Australian Football

    9. Bart on Fri, March 07, 2008

      Jermayn, 


      Yes, Christianity as you stated is a risk, and with God they are no longer risk, but not safe.  I would say they are obedience.  It seems that we have equated risk with Godliness.  At a lot of conferences I hear all about how we need to take risks.  Yes we do, but just because we are taking risk does not mean we are following God.  As an example, if my church wanted to take a risk and build a $25,000,000 church with seating for 20,000, with God it is not a risk, but for a rural church with 200 people (our whole county only has 17,000 people) it is not a risk God would most likely give us.  Yes Noah built an ark that didn’t make sense, but I am not Noah.

    10. Kristin on Wed, April 16, 2008

      Don’t you people know what the big G stands for!!!!

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