Aaron Rogers received no Division 1 college football scholarship offers. Nor was he the first quarterback selected in the 2005 NFL draft. But he went on to win the league MVP multiple times. His Packers won the Super Bowl in 2011.
Rogers’s journey to success left him with profound emptiness. “I enjoyed my private life, but winning the Super Bowl changed all of it,” Rodgers said. “I was really struggling with who I was and who I wanted to be… Dealing with success is one of the greatest teachers in life, because it can make you question a lot of things, make you try and figure out who you are. I was definitely looking for other ways to kind of fill up that hole inside.”
Simone Weil spoke of a “God-shaped hole (which) we try stuffing full of all sorts of things.” Identity idols are among those other things. Tim Keller wrote, “Sin is the despairing refusal to find your deepest identity in your relationship and service to God.” If you win the Super Bowl and still sense something is missing, chances are, success was your idol. You can’t fix that with the psychedelic drug ayahuasca or a four-day darkness retreat, which Rogers tried.
The Bible tells of Paul’s success (and notoriety). His heritage, education, and position made him zealous to destroy people’s lives. Then came his Damascus Road encounter, where Jesus called him to a new identity. Looking back, Apostle Paul dismissed his former success as “rubbish.” He wrote, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Looking forward he said, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:8,14). Jesus put success in context saying, “Whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Matt. 16:25-26).
“Life is a journey” is cliché, but apt. It’s not blazing your own unique path. Nor is it struggling to summit a high peak. It’s more like asking for directions and agreeing to start down a well-worn path, which leads to life and peace. It is a path that begins with a small gate and continues as a narrow way. You meet fellow travelers along the way, which is a joy because few find it (Matt. 7:14).
You can be one who does. To know Christ is to have a successful life journey. That is as true for a Super Bowl champion as it is for you.
Resource: The Alpha Course can help with your spiritual journey. For a course near you, visit Try Alpha.