Years ago, the American Broadcast Company’s (ABC) Wide World of Sports highlighted numerous thrilling moments in their opening credits. Usually you would see moments of greatness as well as times of monumental downfalls, all the while an announcer, the late Jim McKay , gave the famous tagline, “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” That single phrase remains an icon in America pop culture.
Watching the Olympic athletes amazes me because the level of competition has risen so high. Records continue to fall, medals awarded to the anticipated heroes as well as the come-from-behind unknowns, and only tens of one thousand seconds (or points) separate the victors and the defeated, greatness seems to abound with every event.
I suspect that great moments are often defined only by which side of the scoreboard you stand when all the dust from competition settles. For those non-victorious competitors standing on the field of battle when the clock runs out, the term “great” fails to give adequate emotional expression.
Many times we place higher significance upon the final couple of plays, shots, serves, holes, or minutes of competition. Some sports commentators use phrases like, “It all comes down to this…” to describe the importance of the moment. Sometimes they do so nearly invalidating an entire game and that only the last few minutes actually count.
Jim Collins, author of the book Good To Great, has a quote about it, "Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline."
Imagine that, greatness is not happenstance but of choice. Greatness is more about doing the right things for the right reasons and the right ways than it is being lucky and at the right place at the right time. In a sense it says, “You have a choice to make, to be good and maintain a certain level, or be great and grow beyond yourself.” Once the choice is made, you have to work at it in order to achieve it.
I once read that true champion athletes and teams spend from twenty to thirty to forty times as much time practicing and getting better than they spend on the field of competition. I suspect that is why God puts so much emphasis on our intentional growth as an individual rather than allowing us to expect growth to happen by mere fate or chance.
For Christians, most of us will never stand on the Olympic podium with a gold medal hanging from our necks. The Apostle Paul says, “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”
As thrilling as it may be to win an Olympic gold medal – amazing to win eight in one year – I would not trade anything for the chance to stand on the ultimate victor’s podium. Doing so means I accepted God grace for my life through Jesus Christ and that I did not shortcut or skip out on any of the training session He has planned for me. As a means to prepare for that moment, should I not try to express my appreciation by moving my life from being simply good to being great?
I look forward to seeing you at the training place on Sunday.
