Have any of you been watching what’s been happening to Russell Wilson in Denver? Man, this is painful, isn’t it? Talk about everything falling apart! Ever since Russell Wilson has left the Seahawks, nothing seems to be falling his way. I wonder why? It seems like folks in Denver just don’t like him! Of course, the Bronco’s 2-5 record might have something to say about that. And the fact that he has a huge 5-year contract worth just short of 50 million dollars a year! But, in the end I don’t really think this is the issue. To me it has to do with a word Russell Wilson talks about all the time these days: “legacy”! It’s a word I started to hear from Russell Wilson and his entourage for about the last 3 years. It’s a word I hear from a lot of superstars, and multi-millionaires. They all want to leave a “legacy.” They all want to leave their mark on the world. They all want to make an everlasting impact on this wonderful world.
In so many ways, I totally agree with them! We should all want to leave an everlasting image on this world. Like my dad always said when we got ready to pack up our camping gear and head home: “Let’s make sure we leave the campground better than you found it!” That makes so much sense! Leave a legacy!
But, and here’s the big catch, what I find folks like Russell Wilson really mean when they say the word legacy, is that they aren’t really worried about how they leave the world when they leave it, they want to make sure they will be remembered. In other words, they are more worried about their own self-image than they are the world! It’s “my legacy” they are worried about! And too often they seem to have turned those words...“my legacy”... in for a more important set of words, “it’s all about team!”
Yesterday, for instance, Russell was asked about how he was rehabbing after his injury. Here’s what he said, “I was on the plane, first two hours of the eight-hour flight here I was watching film, watching all the cutups and everything else, and then for the next four hours I was doing treatment on the plane. I was walking up and down the aisle, everybody else was knocked out, I was doing high knees, working my legs and everything else, making sure I was ready to rock. That was good."
Hmm. I wonder how this played with his teammates!?! Did you notice the incredible “I” centeredness in these statements? Did you notice who was the hero, and who wasn’t? (Man, what an ego!?!)
Russell has lost track of the team aspect of the game of football. He might do good to check out the scripture passage in 1 Corinthians 12:17-20: If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact, God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
Actually, we all could maybe check that out, right? Because if we’re honest, we all get that way sometimes, right? We live in a world where “we” isn’t really an important quantity anymore. Teamwork takes sacrifice and work and making time to connect. Teamwork takes humility and being willing to put someone else, or a team, ahead of “me.” And when you’re getting almost $50 million a year, and you are being followed around by an entourage of reporters, I think it must be super easy to lose sight of that.
Look! I believe in Russell Wilson. Unlike some in Seattle, I want him to succeed in Denver! I really think that deep down in his heart, Russell Wilson is better than this. That he wants to do what’s best for his team and this world. I just think he’s lost his way a bit. And I sure hope he finds it soon. What he needs is just a little humility…or maybe even a whole bunch of it.
Richard Rohr, a great spiritual mentor for me, shares that the key to becoming all we can be on our spiritual journey is the simple gift of humility. He thinks it is so important that he consistently prays to God that every day he will be humbled. And he says, “you know what? I’ve prayed for a lot of things in my life. And sometimes God hasn’t come through with them. But in terms of allowing me to be humbled every day? God has never failed to make that happen! God really thinks I'm at my best when I'm humble!”
May God give each of us a good portion of humility today and always. And may God teach us what to do with it when we get it!
Your pastor and friend, doling out a little tough love (hang in there Russ), Brook
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