November 2009 Finish Strong Ron Brown
No Fear
Perhaps you can remember the most intricate details of a championship game between two powerhouses. Not only do you remember the final score, but also the specific plays, experiences and crowd reactions. If you watched the game on TV or listened on the radio, you can probably even recall parts of the broadcaster's commentary.
For some of you, that's not unlike hearing the testimonies of your favorite athletes and coaches and how they have been impacted by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Both of these scenarios bring delight to those of us who have trusted Jesus as our Savior and Lord and who have a God-fueled passion for sports. There is something most inspiring when these two worlds—a huge game and a huge Christlike courage — come together for the memories of a lifetime.
This lesson hit me back in 1995 as an assistant coach at the University of Nebraska, the fantastic school at which I find myself again today.
That season was dominant, to say the least. We finished the regular season undefeated, and our closest game was a 14-point victory over a talented Washington State team. Everything else was a blowout. To top it off, all season, we'd been getting everyone's best shots after going to two straight national championship games and winning it all in 1994.
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"He did something even more radical than that: He pulled out a book with some Bible verses on it." |
After the dominant '95 regular season, we were ranked No. 1 in the nation and poised to play No. 2 Florida in the Fiesta Bowl in our third-consecutive national title game. Two great quarterbacks (Wuerffel and Frazier), two great coaches (Spurrier and Osborne), two great teams (Florida and Nebraska) were playing for all the marbles.
In the end, it all was trumped by one great God moment.
Just before the Nebraska team boarded the bus from the hotel to the stadium for the game, our head coach, Tom Osborne, addressed the team. We'd all observed that, during our pre-bowl practices, our normally confident team had become strangely silent. Maybe it was due to the fact that we had won the national title the year before, and, from what we could gather from the press, the nation seemed to be rooting for Florida this year. We were also dealing with a few negative off-the-field issues that were fairly well-publicized.
In some ways, this particular season, we were considered "bad boys." In my opinion, our reputation had taken a toll on the players and manifested into an unsettling and unusual team atmosphere. Perhaps that's why they were so quiet as they waited for Coach Osborne to speak.
As I watched him walk to the podium, I secretly hoped our soft-spoken head coach would do something radical like rip open his shirt and tie and reveal a giant tattoo on his chest. Now that would have excited our players! But that wasn't Tom Osborne's style. He did something even more radical than that: He pulled out a book with some Bible verses in it.
Right then, I thought to myself, "No he's not! The man is not going to read God's Word to the University of Nebraska football team before the national championship game!" This wasn't Nebraska Christian University. It wasn't a land-grant institution, but a public university — one in which many Christians even today feel unsafe or insecure sharing their faith in Christ.
But Coach Osborne knew something that most Christians miss — a lesson that is found in Psalm 24, Colossians 1 and a host of other Bible verses. It is the truth that gives Christians not only the right to share their faith in Christ but also the responsibility to do so.
As surprised as I was to see Coach Osborne read a Bible verse to the team, I found it very encouraging. And, after having observed his faith-based life, I should have seen it coming.
Tom Osborne was, and still is, a quietly bold man for Jesus Christ. That day, he chose a verse that perfectly spoke to our team. It was 2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV): "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."
As Coach Osborne read this verse I thought of how fear had done enormous damage to just about all of us on that team. He realized that, not only were our players afraid of what life would be like if we lost to Florida, but also that much of their lives in general were being driven by fear. A number of them came from tough neighborhoods and family situations. They were afraid of failing in the classroom, losing their girlfriends and not playing pro football. What Coach Osborne did was remind them that God had not given them that fear, but instead, could give them a spirit of power.
As Coach Osborne spoke, he also shared that a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ would give them resurrection power in the midst of great trials and the assurance that Christ died on a cross for every one of them. He noted that a right relationship with Him would give them a sound mind full of discretion and self-control and enough discipline to say "yes" to the right things and "no" to the wrong.
After that speech, our team was more quiet than ever. Why? Did they think that Coach Osborne was out of line in sharing a Bible verse with them before a big game? Were they thinking, like many folks today, that our expression of Jesus Christ and football should be separated?
To be honest, I don't know what was going on inside them in that solemn moment. What I do know is that our football team exploded that night for a 62-24 victory to win the national title. And I do know that a number of the players and coaches present for Coach Osborne's talk were deeply impacted that night, not only for that game, but for a lifetime.
In the end, the Lord God had the final score of both the game and souls of these young men in His hands. But I thank Him most for inspiring a head coach to caringly and courageously present a perspective to his team that honored God before anything or anyone else. May we all be inspired to do the same. 
--For more stories about faith and sport, visit www.sharingthevictory.com, the official magazine of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. To subscribe to STV, click here.
