The NFL season starts on Thursday with the Super Bowl champion, Tampa Bay Bucs, taking on the Dallas Cowboys.
As we make our Super Bowl predictions for this year, it’s hard not to pick the Bucs to repeat, despite having a starting quarterback who is 44 years old.
With the Bucs clicking toward the end of last season and marching through the playoffs, it appears they remain all-in for 2021.
In today’s sports landscape with free agency, having 22 of 22 Bucs starters back for another Super Bowl run is quite remarkable. Add in the fact that they're only the second team to get 100% of their players vaccinated, shows how in sync they really are.
So how does this happen? What is the key to the Bucs' success? Of course, having Tom Brady helps, but I think this quote from head coach Bruce Arians sheds light on the approach that’s working in Tampa:
“Our players are outstanding. They do what they’re supposed to do on and off the field because they take care of each other. We live by three words….Trust, Loyalty, And Respect...We don’t have any rules.”
Having players operate with trust, loyalty, and respect makes a lot of sense. They will strive to prioritize the team first and make wise decisions to keep them on the path toward the Super Bowl.
Interestingly, without any rules, that freedom seems to work because players choose to take care of each other. Having trust, loyalty, and respect results in doing the right things to have a winning team.
As we think about how the Bucs players are bought in and “do what they’re supposed to do on and off the field because they take care of each other,” I want to unpack a parallel to what the Bible says in Galatians 5 about freedom and love.
“For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves” (Galatians 5:13-16; NLT).
In our own lives, we don’t have to get caught up in a bunch of rules. If we love our neighbor as ourselves (which includes loyalty, trust, and respect), we'll end up “doing the right things in order to have a winning team.”
The Bucs don’t use their freedom to do stupid things, but rather they are motivated by their desire to win Super Bowls together. This enables them to do what they’re supposed to do on and off the field.
As followers of Jesus, we don’t use our freedom to sin. Instead, we're motivated by our love for God and others while the Holy Spirit enables us to live the right way.
Galatians 5:22-24 (NLT) says, ”But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to His cross and crucified them there.”
The Message translation paraphrases Galatians 5:22-24 this way:
“But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely" (verses 22-23).
"Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified” (verses 23-24).
Some NFL teams are driven by rules, but we see how beneficial it’s been for the Bucs to choose freedom and focus on trust, loyalty, and respect.
Likewise, we can try to force legalism on ourselves and others...or we can choose to focus on love and "taking care of each other" as we yield to the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is calling us to love God and love people. When we do that, we’ll stay on the best path and "do what we're supposed to do."
I’m Bryce Johnson and you can UNPACK that!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I’m so thankful for the freedom I have in Christ. I’m grateful for Your grace and Your love and I pray it would motivate me to love my neighbor well. I know when I do that, I’ll follow Your other commands too. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.Discussion Questions for PACKS:
In your own life, what difference have you seen between living by rules vs. living by love?
Why does choosing love (trust, loyalty, respect) lead to a more fruitful and obedient life?
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