VISION
FOR GREATNESS:
“a
SUPER Witness” -
January 31st,2000
submitted
by Melanie Crayton <[email protected]
Many
of our eyes were there yesterday - somewhere in front
of
a TV watching the celebration of our country’s annual
unofficial
holiday - the SUPER BOWL. So were
millions of
others
around the world. It’s the most watched show in all of
Television
every year. Advertisers spent 2.2 million on 30-
second
commercials. And for once, we saw a great game – a
game
worthy of it’s title “Super”.
After the Titans drove all
the
way down the field, the Rams held on as the Titans fell 1
yard
short of tieing the game in the last 6 seconds. A
heartbreaker
for the Titans and their fans; a sigh of excited
relief
for the Rams and theirs.
But
for me, (not a big fan of either team) it was the
post-game
show that got me most pumped up.
For
it was there that I saw the game’s MVP & this year’s
NFL
most valuable player turn the tide on a
reporter’s
question and give a truly
“super” Christian witness.
Rams
quarterback Kurt Warner had just finished setting a
Super
Bowl record of passing for 414 yards with 2
touchdowns.
In the last 2 minutes of a tensely tied game, he
fulfilled
every quarterback’s dream of throwing a 73-yard
winning
TD pass to receiver Isaac Bruce.
On
the podium after
the
game, in front of millions around the world, he was asked
this
reporter’s question, “Kurt, first things first - the TD
pass
to Isaac Bruce - did you say anything before you guys
went
out for that play?” His response: “Well, first things
first - I’ve got to give the praise and glory to my Lord &
Savior up above.
Thank You Jesuuuuuus!” as he held
the
Lombardi
trophy high over his head. “And then about that
play...”
Along
with the outspoken credit he gave the Lord on the
podium,
there was a more silent but powerful witness during
the
game. One of the Titans players was injured - laying on
the
field motionless for several minutes before being carefully
taken
out on a gurney. As the doctors huddled around the
Titans
injured Blaine Bishop, Kurt went over next to them and
knelt
down to pray. Even ABC’s Leslie
Visser mentioned on air
how
“touching” it was.
To
truly appreciate Kurt Warner’s witness, you need to know
more
of his personal story. His long road to success was filled
with
setbacks and bad breaks. After being passed over in the
NFL
draft and rejected by the Canadian football league, five
years
ago he was stocking shelves for minimum
wage at a
Hy-Vee
supermarket in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
He
kept working out and a year later was back in football,
but
in small-time arena football - an indoor game using 8
players
on each team playing on a 50-yard field.
In
1997 he missed a tryout with the Chicago Bears when he
was
bitten on the elbow by a vicious spider, leaving him unable
to
throw.
After
3 years he was signed by the Rams
and sent to the
Amsterdam(Netherlands)
Admirals of NFL Europe. The Rams
signed
him for the 1998 season but he played in only 1 game.
The
next year the Rams signed another superstar-prospect
QB,
and it looked like Warner would be overlooked again. But
when
Trent Green was injured in the preseason, Warner
stepped
up to have one of the greatest seasons in NFL
history.
He
threw for 41 touchdowns, led the league in
completion
%, and took the Rams to the conference-best
record
of 13-3. In 5 months he had gone from being an
anonymous
bench-warmer to the NFL’s most valuable player and Super Bowl champion.
Warner
became a Christian 4 years ago after tragedy touched
his
life. His wife’s (then his
girlfriend) parents were killed
when
a tornado demolished their home in Mountain View,
Arkansas.
Kurt watched as Brenda, a Christian, responded to
the
tragedy with poise and grace rather than self-pity.
He
also knew how she had dealt with a crippling accident
suffered
by her son zachary 8 years earlier when he was
dropped
on his head as a baby. Brenda sat
in a rocking chair
next
to Zachary’s hospital crib for 17 days, watching as he
suffered
seizures, quoting scripture, and asking God to
perform
a miracle. Although legally blind and brain damaged,
Zachary
is now a 5th-grader who can read, gets around fairly
well,
and takes mainstream and special ed. classes.
Three
months after Brenda’s parents’ deaths he became a
Christian.
Two months later he proposed to her, and has
adopted
Zachary and her daughter Jesse.
Kurt
is now a celebrity but says he owes his success to
Brenda
and his faith. Warner told his story at a Billy Graham
crusade
in St.Louis last fall: “Who am I? I am a devout
Christian
man”, he told the crowd of 40,000. “I
am not a
football
player. That is what I do. When I throw a
touchdown
pass now, my thoughts are how can I use this
success
on the field as a platform to glorify and praise my
Lord
Jesus Christ. People often ask the secret of my success
as
a football player. It has nothing to do with how I work out
in
the off-season or my diet. The secret of my success is
simply
Jesus Christ.”
He
now prints his own trading cards that tell his story of
turning
his life over to Christ. He carries them around so he’ll
have
something meaningful to hand out to fans who ask for his
autograph.
Even
if you are not a football fan, I hope Kurt
Warner’s
story and super witness inspires you. Though we may
not
have the celebrity platform he has, each of us in our own
worlds
can have just as powerful a witness for our Lord and
savior.
I’m sure you’ll hear talk the next few days about the
game
yesterday. Why not print copies of this story and share
them
with people you know? When a sports celebrity such as
Kurt
Warner, gives God credit for his success, it opens doors
for
us to talk about his faith and our faith with our
neighbors,
classmates, and co-workers. If and when that door
opens
in the post-game chatter, be ready to talk about
something
far more important than the game!
I
praise God for Christian celebrities who are willing to give
the
Lord credit for their success. One of my personal goals
for
this is year is to “give God credit for the good things in
my
life and for what He is teaching me in the bad.” I pray
that
giving God CREDIT becomes a habit for each of us.
May
our Super God empower and equip you to be truly
SUPER
for Him!
Roger
“And whatever
you do, whether in word or deed, do it ALL in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God the Father through Him.” -
Colossians 3:17
