The Greatest Prize

Wonder when Greg was drafted into the National Football League. All of a sudden he started hearing from people, important people in his life who wanted something from him. My dad was not involved in my life and so I held that against him and member. One time I saw him the first thing he said was I need a truck and as I winding up dad and so that was incredibly painful but without Christ you really know what to do with that pain.

And so you think you can bear your pain but in reality your pain in Zuberi and you. This is family life today. Our hosts are Dave and Ann Wilson on Bob Lapine. You can find us online@familylifetoday.com it takes something remarkable, something supernatural for us to be able to respond rightly to people who have hurt us deeply talk more about that today with their woodgrain's and welcome to family life to.

Thanks for joining us. I guess this is appropriate. That it in the week after the beginning we would have couple of football players.

I got guess I should say the couple football players here. I don't that I thought. It's been too long.

You are an NFL chaplain for 33 years, but you did plate college ball at Ball State in the Hall of Fame at Ball State right okay Bob guy we done with this very thing and with we have here today. They guy who was in the league for five years six years six hours. The year from the pension right there baby journaling gray joining us on family life to my distance again was last night were probably a duck football a little bit today – five has everybody feeling okay with me too much.

That's what the game is all about and that it's about the wings and everything else you got here. It inflicted to suspend some plumbing problem is, but here's a real important thing is, why are you in the Ball State Hall of Fame I what did you do the county road. I want to eat so I don't will buffer you like the older I get in the further way I get from my collagen NFL crew career, the more impressed I am with you in it.

You don't realize it, but when you're out of it. You go house to go party in the BYU Hall. If I am not in a BYU Hall of Fame. There is a giant banner of me at the stadium is really sweet but so did you throw for a lot of yards are over you where you can. I hear we got working to get into the staff like what you do like give me some number asked my wife and I don't know the stats that I know they're good. This is not what were here to talk to me and I'm just I'm just impressed the mean not too many people can say I'm married to a Ball State home laughing all the time Leath Hall of Fame. They use these seem to twinkle in her like I got the court in that thread I did and she was a cheerleader so there you go, so all is explained during gray who is ready to go over to her when joining us on family like today's a pastor he's an author. He lives in Charlotte North Carolina. He and his wife Vicki had been married for 28 years when they met at BYU will probably get them done little but Dylan's been with us on family like today, six years in the NFL you are with the Panthers in the culture and there's there's a whole team full of guys who won the game last night who are thinking, I have reached the pinnacle. I mean, I have finally achieved what I grew up dreaming I would achieve.

I have I've reached the summit and part of what we want to talk about today is really the theme that you've written about in the book you've written called the good life. You're suggesting that if you think this is the pinnacle and this is where life is found you have climbed the wrong mountain right yes so so so let me put it like this. If winning the Super Bowl is awesome of been a part of winning some incredible games. But if winning a ruling is your greatest prize. There's always going to be a echo in your soul ringing that there's more because all the good things in this world is but a shadow to the greatest good the greatest good, has a name and his name is Jesus. And so, let me explain what I'm what I'm saying with some some context. So back in 2014's is a while ago as I was pastoring in mentoring and discipling reaching the lost. Whether they were black white male FEMA regardless of the age of people were not happy and so I thought okay, what does Jesus say about happiness and hiding in plain sight in the greatest sermon ever preached by the greatest preacher ever preached Jesus literally tells humanity how to be happy. It's called the Beatitudes and so Jesus is standing on a hill call the sermon on the Mount that's that's that's what is and he's over looking the sea of Galilee and his disciples are sitting at his feet and he opens up with these words he says blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And then he describes seven of the characteristics of a blessed life and the Greek word for blessed is the work macros and it literally means happy so happy are the poor in spirit.

Happy are those who mourn happy are the humble and so Jesus is literally laying out that the life of happiness. You want is actually a life of holiness. Holiness is a theological term and it simply means this that when we say yes to Jesus. He brings us into his family.

He separates us from darkness moves us into the light and now he says to show you how to be a child of the light and as a result of that you take upon certain characteristics and it's going to give you happiness. That's not contingent upon happenings. It's not contingent upon circumstances is actually contingent upon intimacy with him into me. You see, that will we get to see him. We start to become like him.

And now our happiness isn't rooted in when I lost my job, or covert, 19 or political unrest or racial unrest. Our happiness now is not about getting things it's about becoming the person we were meant to always be you start this book by taking us on your quest for happiness and how you thought you were going to find it in athletics right yeah and and so I didn't grow up in the church I grew up on the west side of San Antonio, Texas. We were pole that means we could afford the old and the are poor, but when you grow pole.

You don't even know your Podesta is just the way it is in group in Texas. I cannot remember a moment when I did not love football and so I came from a context and environment that it age 13, I said I don't want to be like what I see and I decided at that time the football was my weight out of where I was at the football has always been more than just a game like I loved it.

And so, in essence, it became a God, because the human heart is gonna worship something that's just the way were made in worship isn't that complex. It simply means this, I'm drawing, affirmation, identity and mission from something or someone. Football gave me that when I was in eighth grade, my middle school football coach told my mom that if Dewey just my nickname if Dewey continues to work hard.

He could get a scholarship. My mom told me that mess that will come to ship is that no shows no scholarship. That means you can play football like the guys on TV you could go to school, you can have a better life, and at that moment that seed was planted in my and my heart so in God's common grace that gave me purpose and and and and aspirations. But like any false God.

It lets you down so people will look and say well girl met you you you were successful you became Allstate football player, became All-American in college like you married your dream girl, my wife and I got married in college. By the way I met her second semester my freshman year, Vicki was from a small town in Montana called Darby I'm from the hood in San Antonio, Texas. Both of us non-Mormons meet at a Mormon school and so the first time I saw her she was in the weight room lifting weights to she was on the track team and she was doing triceps extensions. Now this is before I was a good he remembered tricep extensions all like it was yesterday where you like into the triceps or what yeah totally because the next thought my mind. I got on judgment under all judging. I was like skittles tricep we could make superior at and the next thought was a hope. She asked me for spot and she did and after she did her exercise. She skedaddle law financing. A few weeks later playing basketball and we have been together.

Basically, ever since we've been together for 30 years, been married 28 years and so we got married in college which at BYU is kind of a normal thing to do and so was aware for skin college seminar family stop. It was odd, but both of us a kind of rebellious so will I we don't care we love each other's will do and up having a great career and then I get drafted to the NFL. That was my my heaven mind Nirvana. That was my Meco that was my all and all in my rookie year was absolutely miserable. Vicki and I were looking each other going. Can we go back to college where we were loved by so hard. Well, it was so hard because one I was now a little fish in a big pond to because my wife is why Aiden have a much better tandem black out some of my teammates. The black teammates actually gave me a hard time and gave her a hard time.

We just didn't connect well. It was a older team and I was like 21 and do the like, 34, 35, I wasn't planned much and then all of a sudden there is this pressure to provide financially for family and friends who never went to see me play football in high school. You're getting calls from people saying hey Darwin, I'm getting calls from people that I thought was dead, my luggage is the resurrection from you know there was a time that my dad was not involved in my life and so I held that against him and when you don't know Christ on how to process that pain and number one time I saw him the first thing he said was I need a truck and I was like why need a dad and so that was incredibly painful but without Christ. You don't really know what to do with that pain. And so you think you can bury her pain but in reality your pain in Zuberi and you.

It's like your mom's and clean up your room because you close on the floor and you stuff them all under the bed and I get funky and stinking the overflow out what that's what pain does, it turns into bitterness and bitterness is drinking poison hoping that the person you're mad at dies and so externally, you look great but into early. I've got people calling me a training camp and you guys know what training camp is like as a fourth-round pick. I am fighting for my life to make the team and I've got family member's and you need to retire your granddad.

Unlike what you mean my signing bonus is 100,000 after taxes is 55, after agent I'm stuck with 45,000 bucks what you what you talking about retired so anyway that was incredibly hard from a marital perspective.

I was very passive as a husband.

Vicki is very strong and sounds cool. I hate you leave the house do to do whatever goggle play ball. So we got along really good like good roommates second year, things got a little bit better.

My first NFL start. I led the team in tackles. Another light is gonna be easy on the man in the next. We would play Tampa Bay in a like I am not now year three, though that was it.

I was a team captain found my groove house plan really good, but at the end of that season was like I had a existential crisis at 25 and now I know the Holy Spirit is looking in the mirror and like early February or March: so this is as good as it gets. There has to be more because I knew one, I can't play football forever and NFL stands for. Not for long. And my identity was based on being a football player that open doors that gave me privileges will him when I can do do them was his incredible fear. Secondly, morally, I knew there were things that were wrong.

I do know the word sin, but I knew if I did some bad. I wanted to do some good to fix it. Thirdly, I could love my wife the way she deserved to be love. Now as I look back I couldn't truly love her because I didn't truly love myself. I didn't think I was worth it like even now there are times well pull up the transformation church and the thoughts are going through my mind is what would Sunday are they gonna figure out.

I'm not worth stand for but I grew up in a context where my mom was 17 when she had me. My dad was 19.

I love them both.

But the reality is there substance abuse issues are all types of issues and so they were in and out of my life so early on global I'm not worth stand for so football makes sense because I'm going to show you on, worth, therefore, played a bass on the work the hardest because in reality what I'm saying is I'm worth stand for what you love me. The problem is what happens when you can't do that anymore. That's what every false God does is it says feed me feed me feed me and it's never full and it breaks your soul. Is that about the time the naked preacher came in your life. So the naked preacher showed up on the scene. Actually, my rookie year. So we need to explain everybody they can you yet when you talk about the naked pre-doing really bad American millionaire and they could purchase yeah yeah so so so you know, God has an incredible sense of humor.

I believe he smiles so much more than we recognize, but in 1993 was drafted by the Colts. There was a linebacker in the team every day he would take a shower, dry off reptile around his waist and then he get his Bible and he go to my teammates and he'd say, do you know Jesus in my mind I go.

Do you know you have to make. It was the weirdest thing because I wasn't a church kid. I don't do. You know, geez, I don't know what that means.

So I asked the veterans on the team. I said what's up with the half naked black man walking around talking about do you know Jesus and one of my teammates said don't pay any attention to him.

That's the naked so his real name is Steve Grant but naked preacher was his nickname and one day after practice him sit in my locker and I see him walking towards me and I turned my back because I want them to do it him or his nakedness or his Jesus and he touched me in the back and he says rookie degree. Do you know Jesus and that began this five year relationship, and so in the midst of the existential crisis tomorrow. Christ is the things I'm going through my marriage.

He's embodying the gospel he sharing the gospel and one of the most powerful things in you guys know this, and for the listener. What are the most powerful things is to embody what you're proclaiming, and one after practice the defensive back schools were jokester's were playing around in someone through some tape to hit another guy in the one got ducked and hid the naked preacher and his eyes swelled up, hit tears were running out of his anyone up to God. He said if I didn't love Jesus, I will hurt you, and I was like this man really believes this because that was grounds for bead and so that even made the message stronger and on soap August 2, 1997 is my fifth year and NFL Anderson University in Anderson, Indiana, and with the Colts externally.

The bank accounts nice investment portfolios nice my career is going nice things are going nice on the outside but this good life that I want. I don't have, and I remember walking from lunch back to my door and the best way I can describe it as there was a Grand Canyon size chasm in my soul. So I get to the dorm room and this is in the 90 so there's no smart phones. The phone is actually connected to the wall you guys remember those Dahlia and I call Vicki on the phone and I say I want to be committed to you and I want to be committed to Jesus. And what happened next is I felt when I was born again.

I'd felt the love of God in Christ, just wash over me. It was like for the first time in my life that I knew that I knew that I knew that I was loved and it wasn't because of my performance and this is what I mean my whole life was built on this.

How fast can you run how good can you play, what place can you make, how can you help the team win. Okay, you're at your team captain but is not unconditional. It has conditions that strings attached before the first time, if you will. There was someone who looked at my 40 time, a vertical leap. My benchpress my game film called life and said you are not good enough and I love you anyway and I am your good enough and that's what I was infected with grace like this idea as an athlete. Everything's performance.

Performance performance status and for the first time it was someone said you were loved. Not because of but in spite of it all because of me and that's what I came to know Christ and that began this journey of understanding that God's greatest goal for me is not to make my dreams come true. God's greatest goal for me is to form me into the image of his son to love like Jesus. To think like Jesus to forgive, like Jesus to have compassion like Jesus to love my wife the way he loves her to be a conduit of his love and his grace and his mercy and what we found was this is the happiness that we thought we were going to have a bank account or status was actually found in a person, and the ability to love and to forgive each other. You are amazing things that the story which I didn't think this is what was going to hit me was naked preacher man Steve Grant. The boldness of Steve to walk over to you even when you didn't want to hear it and tap you on the shoulder and insert to share the gospel with the is inspiring to me because so many of us live so fearfully of offending somebody or not. Tap him on the shoulder. I walking the line is lacquering you all these decades in their days as I was afraid I want to share Christ with this linebacker tomorrow, next week chapel Saturday night and I can you know IEEE can live in is fair and yet he had the courage to tap you on the shoulder. You're looking am I do get out of here. Put put some clothes on and go home. Yeah. And yet he embodied it but the boldness of that. I want to say to a listener who's afraid.

Don't be afraid that tap on the shoulder literally change your life in your legacy and everything is done because he said I'm gonna step into an uncomfortable space and I will share the gospel and and and and you know what I would say is for him. It was not uncomfortable because of what Christ had done for you know, as we look at 2020 and moving into 20, 21, we have experienced a pandemic of on paralleled experiences, at least in our lifetime.

So can you imagine if a vaccine would've been found earlier in someone going when I'll share the vaccine tomorrow know we would run throughout the streets going to have a vaccine will we have a vaccine that kills and cure something so much worse than covert. We have a vaccine. We have the remedy that defeats sin, death and evil, and the medicine is Jesus himself. And if we just pray will know who the patients are, if we just pray will know who it is that were to share with them and when we get to the point in life where we've reached the pinnacle of whatever it is we were pursuing and we go. This is where I thought I would get to the top and I would go life is here and you go, but it's not it's empty. I thought I would feel something different. I thought there would be more here then to recognize Jesus has said, I can show you where the good life is, you know, Bob just just is just as you're saying that and as were coming off of the Super Bowl.

And of course football is the greatest illustration for Christianity, but I'm not so so there are a lot of fans that were watching the game and they were the jerseys of their favorite player but if they were actually go play the game in the jersey of their favorite player they would get them use a biblical word they would get smoked and right so what happens is is in life we accomplish and get these things and we get the jersey but we don't have the makeup to actually wear it and play the game right and what Jesus is doing in the Beatitudes. He saying I want to turn you into a player that can wear the jersey and what is the characteristics of these players will one. The poor in spirit. What is that mean God reliant to happy are those who mourn, does that mean would break Scott's heart makes my heart care for the things that God cares for. Happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. What is that mean God I'm on your agenda align my will to yours. Happy are those who are merciful, wow, can we use mercy.

Happy are those who are pure in heart.

What is that mean it means that you've come to the place the understanding that the only thing good in you is Jesus.

This is what you walk us through in the book the good life yes which show we are making available this week to family like today listers if you'd like to make a donation to help support this ministry would love to send you a copy of Darwin's book, the good life. What Jesus teaches about finding true happiness. It's a look at the Beatitudes and the it's our gift to you. When you make a donation to support this ministry with a donation of any amount you can make that donation online in family life to data.com or you can call one 800 FL today to donate just explain your donations cover the cost of producing and distributing this radio program. This podcast now available into so many channels this local radio station carries it. You can hear it online.

You can get through the family like mobile app you can tell Alexa to play family life to all of this is possible because listers like you believe in our mission which is to effectively develop godly marriages and families who change the world one the home at a time are our goal here each day is to equip you with practical biblical help and hope for your marriage and your family and thanks to those of you who make all of this possible with your donations. If you're a longtime listener and you've never made a donation wanted to make today the day you join with us donate online@familylifeto.com or call to donate one 800, FL, today is the number and again would like to send you a copy of drawing Gray's book, the good life has a way to say thank you for your donation today so you should ask for when you donate and thanks again for partnering with us in the ministry of family life to the appreciation tomorrow to talk more with Carolyn Gray about the good life really looks like were also to get his counsel. The Council he gives to engage couples about how to rightly understand what the good marriages can look like Darwin joins us again tomorrow. We hope you can join us as well. Thank our engineer today. Keep Lynch along with our entire broadcast production team on behalf of our hosts David and Wilson on Bob Lapine see you back next time for another edition of family life, family life, to a is a production of family life of Little Rock, Arkansas. Accrue ministry help for today hope for tomorrow