From The Pastor’s Pen – By Brian Horrobin
It was President Harry Truman who once said, “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”
In a day and age where there’s a medal or a plaque for everything, this may seem like a tall order.
As a devout Cleveland Indians baseball fan I was incensed when the team’s home ball park underwent a name change from “Jacob’s Field” to “Progressive Field” due to the need to acknowledge the principle financial sponsor.
These name changes have also affected many other professional sports stadiums in recent years.
And what is the reason that people or businesses want the credit?
It strokes our ego and raises us up in the eyes of others.
In the case of businesses, having a professional sports park bear your name gives you a leg up on the competition.
We love it when people praise us, but when they don’t get around to it fast enough we might be apt to do it ourselves!
We would do well to follow the wise counsel of Proverbs 27:2: “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.”
Quick, name me one player on the practice squad of the Philadelphia Eagles, the team that won this year’s Super Bowl.
Exactly, you can’t, and the reason for that is because these players are not in the limelight and don’t make the big money.
However, their role in practice between games is vital in tuning up the starters for their role on game day.
None of them got interviewed at the close of the Super Bowl, but each one helped get the rest of the team there.
Let’s learn from that.
