The legendary football coach, Vince Lombardi, had three basic building blocks he used to build a championship football team. The Packer green and gold dominated the NFL during the sixties. The building blocks were repetition, confidence, and passion; they each built upon the other.
For Lombardi, it all began with repetition. During the heat of the summer, Lombardi would still bark out orders. Each player had to get it right. Sometimes after practice, he might pull a player aside and go over the play with him. With Lombardi, it was constant and endless repetition.
The Packer’s Sweep was the key to Green Bay’s offense. They practiced the play all during practice. The play was built on execution instead of deception. Late in the season on the frozen turf of Lambeau field, the Packers would line up and each player knew exactly what he was supposed to do. They had it down to how much the ball was turned on the snap. Lombardi wanted his players to be able to run the play in their sleep.
This led to the second building block, confidence. Because they had gone over the play so often, they had confidence in their assignments. When it was third and three, the players didn’t have to think about their assignments. There wasn’t any hint of hesitation; usually it was four yards and a cloud of dust.
The confidence led to the final building block, passion. Because they knew what to do and had confidence in doing it, they could play with true passion. It wasn’t the phony excitement of a player jumping up and down trying to draw attention; instead it was the controlled fire of a player knowing he had done his job. Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers played with machine-like precision.
If we apply the same building blocks to our spiritual walk, we can be become champions for Jesus Christ. Repetition is always the first building block. Our faith grows when we read the Bible, pray, and attend church. Satan came at Christ with the Word of God in the wilderness. Because Christ knew the Word, he was able to point out Satan’s attempt to twist the Scriptures. Today’s cults use a dose of self motivation along with twisted scriptures to lead others astray. Only by spending time reading our Bible can we avoid those traps.
The second building block is confidence. Knowing what God wants us to do, will give us confidence to face the challenges of life. Our confidence isn’t in ourselves, but in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 3:12 says, In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. We can act without indecision, but only when we put our faith in Christ, do we see results. Our focus should be on the cross of Christ. Another way to build our confidence in Christ is to pray. When we see God step in and answer our prayers, our faith grows.
This leads to the last building block, passion. The world isn’t looking for an emotional roller-coaster. Romans 10:2 say, For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. (KJV) Paul is writing about those who had zeal or passion, but were without knowledge. The Packer’s Sweep wouldn’t have been successful if the players didn’t know their assignments, no matter how hard they tried. Without sound doctrine our passion will fade away. We will be left wandering what all of the excitement was about. The world is looking for someone who has an intense internal fire of faith; the kind of fire that burns on the fuel of sound doctrine. They are not interested in a faith built on spiritual steroids, but a faith which moves the chains in life. When you’re watching football this season, and the referee signals first down, think about the new life you have in Christ. Then thank him for his marvelous grace.
