Football and Marriage, Marriage Message 77 (261 hits)
Football and Marriage, Marriage Message 77
Like many American men, I (Steve) sat glued to the sofa on New Years day and watched football. I’m not what you’d call a “fanatic,” but I am a huge University of Michigan fan. And so my new year started off marvelously as U-M defeated Florida 38-30 in the Outback Bowl (Hail to the Victors!) Let me also extend my condolences to the Florida fans. Now, you may be wondering what this has to do with marriage.
Well, Cindy (not being content to let my brain turn to mush on New Years Day) asked me to think if there were any metaphors for football and marriage. There are a couple I could think of, so I thought we’d share them in this week’s Marriage Message. We trust that these may help us all look at our marriages in a new light as we begin this New Year. It’s not how you start the season that matters—it’s how you finish—Using the football analogy, I would say that Cindy and I are in the Third Quarter of our marriage (30 years). We started marriage in the First Quarter and made a lot of mistakes. Our opponent (Satan) gained a lot of yardage on us and just about had us beaten early in the game. Then, we came to Christ and began to work and act like a team and began to focus on “The Goal.” By the time the final gun sounds, we will have won the game. Think about it. Not many people remember those who finish last. What matters today is that even if you’ve fumbled the ball and lost a lot of yardage in your relationship, it’s not too late to regroup and turn the game around and win. If your current “game plan” isn’t working, CHANGE IT!
What is God’s intention for marriage? “That we labor in relationship until the beauty of Christ is formed in us.” (Unknown) In order to win the game there must be mutual accountability and submission—This is a key component in football and marriage. I remember reading in Steve Farrar’s book, Point Man his use of what he calls the “Montana-Rice principle.” Here’s what he says: “When it comes to Ephesians 5:22-23, I like the ‘NFL’ version of the Bible. ‘Wide receivers, submit to your quarterback, as to the Lord. For the quarterback is the head of the wide receiver as Christ is the head of the church.’ This verse is the basis for what I call the Montana-Rice principle. San Francisco 49ers Joe Montana and Jerry Rice were one of the most dangerous passing combinations in the history of the National Football League.
The Montana-Rice principle is made up of two components. Unless they both understand these components, they could not enjoy the success that is theirs nearly every time they step on the field. Component #1: Joe Montana has authority over Jerry Rice. Component #2: Jerry Rice is to submit to Joe’s authority. As the quarterback, Joe Montana has the authority to call the plays… to make the decisions. Everyone on the team knows this. That’s why when he calls a play Jerry doesn’t yell over at Joe and say, ‘That’s the stupidest call I’ve ever heard in my life.’ Montana is the head and ultimately makes the decisions on the field” Farrar goes on to say in this analogy, “This doesn’t mean Rice is denied critical input to the decisions Montana makes in the huddle.
If Rice comes back to the huddle and tells Montana the cornerback keeps taking his inside move, and that he should fake to the inside and then run a post, Montana’s probably going to listen to him. Why? Because they both have the same objective. They want to win. Let me underscore the fact that this principle does not inhibit or restrain good communication. Even though Rice is subject to Montana, he’s still free to give his opinion. Because Montana is a good leader, he values Rice’s feedback. And the team as a whole submits to Montana’s leadership because they have learned to trust him.” Farrar makes some excellent points. Like a football team who’s successful, a marriage needs to have mutual trust and accountability.
Trust is what motivates people to follow our leadership, whether it’s on the football field or at home. And here’s an important point for us men: Trust must be earned. Most of us are familiar with Ephesians 5:22-23 where wives are told to submit to the headship of their husbands—but so many of us men have not understood its full meaning. To help clarify it, here’s how one commentator puts it: “To the wife it should be said that the form your submission takes will vary according to the quality of your husband’s leadership.
If the husband is a godly man who has a biblical vision for the family and leads out in the things of the Spirit, a godly wife will rejoice in his leadership and support him in it. You will be no more squelched by his leadership than the disciples were squelched by the leadership of Jesus.” It’s not too late to start doing things right in our marriage and a good place to start is found in Romans 12:2. Let me paraphrase it for our marriages: “Don’t let your marriages copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform your marriage into something new by changing the way you think. Then you, as a couple, will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect His will really is.” It’s our sincere desire and prayer that Marriage Missions will serve as a catalyst to help all of us to have kind of marriages in 2003 that bring honor and glory to God.
..."Trust is what motivates people to follow our leadership, whether it’s on the football field or at home. And here’s an important point for us men: Trust must be earned..."
Hey Ms. Avon!! It's nice to see your blog. I like this rendition or analogy to football. It certainly makes a lot of sense and gives me something to visualize. I really like the point made about trust in a marriage...it has to be earned and once trust has been broken...it must be earned again. Hopefully married folk will do everything possible to guard and protect our football from being intercepted by the opposing team. lol
Wednesday, October 1st 2008 at 8:12PM
Jen Fad
