Theme: If you want to be GREAT …

Verse: Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant (Matthew 20:26)

Metrics are sweeping the American sports world. There seems to be a stat for everything. All have their place helping sports executives evaluate talent, but if we are going to be honest the average baseball fan can’t distinguish between an OPS and WHIP. (Go ahead, I’ll wait while you look those up on your favorite search engine.)

The movie “Trouble with the Curve” has a character that is a high-level MLB prospect who is pretty full of himself. With that status, he falls into all the traps that stardom offers. Meanwhile, there are others in the star’s orbit that take a different path just to be around the baseball diamond. One is the person portrayed by Clint Eastwood. He is an old-time baseball scout that, let’s just say, has lost his fastball over the years. He must rely on his experience to serve the ball clubs he scouts for AND convince the baseball executives that he knows what he is talking about even though the newfangled metrics indicate otherwise. But he loves the game and is willing to serve in this role to help make the game better.

Without ruining the movie, I’ll just say there are several other stories of servant behavior that provide good lessons for each of us.

Jesus was the ultimate servant leader. Time after time, the Bible cites instances where He humbles himself to the role of servant shunning the spotlight a KING rightly deserves. Check out Mark 10: 43-45 (Jesus did not come to BE served, but to serve) or John 13: 4-15 (Jesus washing the disciples’ feet). They are two really good ones to read.

Serving out of humility produces greatness! There is no other road. If you want to be great, be a servant!

Have an AWESOME Week!

Adapted from True Competitor by Dan Britton and Jimmy Page