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IS COACH LOMBARDI THE LAST WORD?

There’s a delightful football book going clear back to the year 1966, written by former Green Bay Packer Jerry Kramer. This was during the high-flying Vince Lombardi days where the Packers won three straight NFC championships and seemed to be in the Super Bowl every single January.

Kramer, who kept a diary during the entire season, tells some stories of locker-room banter and discussions. Which, surprisingly, aren’t as blue and R-rated as you might expect. One evening around the pile of dirty socks, a very religious discussion sprang up between two of the players, Max McGee and Paul Hornung. They were going back and forth on a deep moral issue: was such-and-such right or wrong. And as these two men jockeyed for position, arguing and picking apart the other guy’s points, they simply couldn’t come to a meeting of the minds.

So finally they agreed: “Let’s call Bill Curry over.” They knew that this Bill was deeply devout, always attending chapel services, always going to church, reading his Bible. Certainly Bill would have the answer they needed.

So he came over and listened to both sides of the debate. And finally he looked at the man who started the discussion and said, “You know, this isn’t really an issue between you and me, Paul, or between you and me, Max. No. This is a question between you and . . .”

And McGee quickly cut in. “Oh, no,” he said. “Don’t bring that Lombardi into this!”

Well, we get an idea of how high up on the ladder this red-faced, screaming coach was in the minds of those big football players. Right next to God Himself, Coach Vincent Lombardi was the final authority, the last court of appeal.

Here in North America this week — Thanksgiving Week 2003 — it’s also National Bible Week. People everywhere are encouraged to read their Bibles again. Or read them more. Dust them off. Share God’s Word with a friend. Join in with others who are involved in a read-through-the-Bible marathon. Attend services this weekend where the Scriptures are uplifted. It’s good to have this reminder once a year, and to receive encouragement, right from the president on down. All of us at the Voice of Prophecy join in with full enthusiasm.

And this week as we count down to the holidays, and also as we reflect on the Word of God, there’s one facet of this unique Book of books that we want to share with you. We’ve entitled this week’s study: THE FINAL COURT OF APPEAL. And you know, that little Green Bay Packer incident highlights what we mean. For every one of us on this planet, there’s a hierarchy or a system we accept as authoritative. Where do we get our marching orders from? What guides our life? What are the bricks in our foundation made of?

You may think of people right here who don’t seem to take or accept any such framework. An inmate on death row who screams at the jury and then at the witnesses lined up there outside the lethal injection chamber: “I don’t take nothin’ from nobody!” Well, except that he or she does. Or did. I like a paragraph that comes out of a Don Matzat book with an intriguing title. Here it is: The Lord Told Me . . . I Think. More about that later, but here’s his paragraph:

“We are all guided by something or someone outside of us. There is a motivation behind our decisions and pursuits. It may be an ethical system, a mindset, a worldview, a set of values taught by others, or the prevailing philosophy of the age.”

In the classic old book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie pointed out that virtually no one believes that they are wrong about things. Even the most depraved of criminals, as they stack up their deeds against their own value system — which they got from somewhere — why, they’re doing just fine. It’s the rest of the world that’s bent out of shape, not them. But we all take something as our final authority, whether it’s a short little screamer named Lombardi or the Koran or a book called “Holy Bible” or those good vibrations you get from looking at the moon when it’s in alignment with Mars.

Today as we get started, I’d like to make just two observations, really. First is this. Obviously, here at the Voice of Prophecy, we would recommend the Word of God, the Bible, as the final authority. But friend, that ought to be a voluntary decision. People choose . . . and they should have the right to choose. Let me say this carefully; we reject the idea that America, for example, ought to be considered a “(quote) Christian nation” or that everything in the Bible ought to be encoded into our civil code, as some Reconstructionists would suggest. Every man or woman should have the freedom to determine for themselves whether or not this collection of 66 books should be the lighthouse they steer their ship toward. It’s not my job to force you into such an agreement, and even the God of heaven doesn’t require you to accept His Word as authoritative in your life. He invites, but He never requires.

But as we share now with those of you who have decided that the Bible is to be your guide — and the others of you can certainly listen in — let me then make this point. Of all the influences which shape you and me and mold us and guide and direct us, the Bible then is to be the final authority. If we submit to many courts, then the Word of God should be the Supreme Court.

There’s a story we’ve told before but it bears repeating right here. A couple of years ago, our writer/producer, David Smith, was participating on a talk radio program with some of the listeners calling in. As you can imagine, something like that can be a real adventure. You have no idea what might come along. Anyway, one woman called in, got on the air, and proceeded to tell quite an interesting dream. Some very spiritual things had happened to her, and her life had been touched by this kind of midnight encounter. She told the whole story, while David and the program host listened in.

Here’s the rub, though. This woman was convinced that what she had dreamed was spiritual truth. She had actually experienced this! The things she had been shown were almost like new light for the church, the Body of Christ. It was very clear, she said emphatically, that the Lord had given her this vision.

So what was wrong with that? As David listened with fascination, he could almost immediately tell that the contents of this dream simply did not square with the Bible. The things she was suggesting as new truth were in complete contradiction with some very plain verses of Scripture. She was saying X when the Bible emphatically said Y instead. Both could not be true; no way.

Now here’s the question. Which should this woman accept? A dream like this is impressive; it’s moving. She felt very close to God afterward. She wanted to embrace this light. But if the dream and the page of this ancient Book said two contradictory things, which of the two should she accept? Which should reign supreme?

And really, friend, that’s the focus of this entire week of study together. For the Christian — again let me say, for the believer who accepts the Word of God — the Bible has to go in first place or not at all. That sounds bold, doesn’t it, and it’s a cardinal tenet of the Christian faith.

We love to tell a story that comes right out of those sacred pages. No less a religious dignitary than the great Apostle Paul himself did some religious teaching in the city of Berea. You can read about this in Acts chapter 17. And you know, sometimes when an eloquent preacher comes into town and sets up a tent, we get too easily blown away. The choir sings and the preaching is inspiring, and it’s not very hard to make a leap of faith into whatever net he or she is casting before you. But as good at preaching as Paul was, these Christians in Berea didn’t accept him as the Supreme Court of knowledge. Do you know what they did instead? They submitted his teachings to the real Supreme Court. Here’s verse 11:

“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness.” But that’s just half the verse. Here’s the rest. “And examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”

Isn’t that interesting? They held up Paul’s preaching to the ultimate authority. Then when Paul’s messages were found to be consistent, they accepted them. But not before. And of course, today Christians accept the writings of Paul as being part of that authoritative package.

I want to tell you something here, just three days before we celebrate Thanksgiving. I’m thankful today for this old Book. I get a lot of advice from here and there and everywhere. My dad’s a great old Adventist preacher. I get lots of magazines. Opinions and suggestions come my way from my wife Jeannie, from my staff, from the Internet, from the backs of cereal boxes. Some things I toss out; other things I’m tempted to adopt and embrace. But I’m grateful that I can submit every single one of them, every other “voice” — even these Voice of Prophecy radio scripts — to the plain words I find in the book of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and right on through to Revelation 22:21, where it says:

“The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.”

Yes, I’m thankful for that final court of appeal.