The “perfect” Patriots lost the Super Bowl yesterday. After a regular season and playoff combination of 18 straight wins, the New York Giants scored with 38 seconds left to beat the Patriots by 3 points. They were so close but couldn’t make it.
The Patriots managed to set a number of records throughout the season (both team records and individual player records). But the team’s goal at the beginning of the season was not to break records—it was to win the Super Bowl. With the Patriots’ attention to detail, extensive training and preparation, fancy playbook, it was a definite shock that they could lose everything in the end.
While many were getting excited about the Super Bowl, the commercials, and the parties, I challenged my Sunday school class to get excited about the Bible. In Paul’s epistles he would often write using “athletic” imagery, given the heavy influence of the Olympics within the culture. He would say things like:
Remember that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize. You must run in such a way that you will win. All athletes practice self-control. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I am not like a boxer who misses his punches. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. -1 Cor. 9:24-27, New Living Translation
Paul displayed an in depth knowledge of the “culture of competition” in his society but also had the unique ability to translate the concepts of competition to spiritual truths. So how can we do the same with the “near perfect” Patriots?
Nicodemus and Jesus
In John 3, Nicodemus came to Jesus by night to learn more about his teachings. Nicodemus had heard about Jesus’ teachings and his miracles. However, Nicodemus was truly unprepared for what Jesus was about to tell him. “I assure you, unless you are born again, you can never see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3, NLT). This notion of being “born again” shocked Nicodemus at his core. As a leader of the Pharisees, this challenged everything that he knew to be right. The Pharisees were a religious sect which strived to keep the religious law to perfection so that they could make it into heaven. By working on their “actions” and their outwardly obedience to the law they would be secure.
The concept of “born again” goes beyond actions and deals with human nature. It says that because of the fall of Adam, all creation connected to Adam, start their season immediately disqualified. They can play as hard as they want but it will not translate in the end. However, if we are “born again” we establish a connection with Jesus the “second Adam.” Through our second birth, we then have access to heaven. Like the New York Giants, you can have a less than perfect season and still win ultimately.
This means that you can win 18 straight games and lose the most important one. You can live a successful life, do good deeds, be well-known, and still not make it in the end. Your statistics or your status do not make you win the heavenly “Super Bowl.” The Bible sums this up by saying, “And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process” (Mark 8:36, NLT)?
The Patriots’ perfection couldn’t secure their ultimate victory and neither can ours. As Jesus told Nicodemus, we must be “born again.” Athletes are competing for a prize that will fade away. We are reaching for an eternal prize—the Super Bowl in the sky.
-Atnre Alleyne
Note: I am an Eagles fan 
