Perfection

Today, Thaddeus and I went to Mitch Abbott's home to watch the Green Bay Packers play the Oakland Raiders.  Mitch is a serious Raiders fan, so today was difficult for him.  The Packers soundly defeated the Raiders in a game that was never even close.  Why did we want to watch this game?  Well the Packers are undefeated this season and have the rare opportunity to go the entire season (Regular season and playoffs) undefeated.  The way they played today, it certainly seems possible.  Of course, the Packers are just one injury away from failing miserably and maybe even losing in the first round of the playoffs.  There are so many factors that determine the outcome of a season for an NFL team.  Just ask the Indianapolis Colts about losing Peyton Manning for the season and they will confirm what I have said.

I remember in 1972 when the Miami Dolphins became the first team in NFL history to go undefeated and win the Super Bowl.  They had a perfect record of 17-0.  They had the No-Name defense along with players like Mercury Morris, Larry Csonka, Paul Warfield and Bob Griese.  I was eleven years old at the time and watched as this team made history.  We watched the Super Bowl (I was pulling for the Redskins) as the Dolphins completed their undefeated run with a 14-7 win.  The most memorable moment of the game was Garo Yepremian trying to pass after a botched field goal attempt only to have Mike Bass return it for the 'Skins only touchdown of the day.  But when the dust settled, the Dolphins had made history and no other team has been able to duplicate that perfection.

I began to think about other professional sports leagues and undefeated teams.  Below are the four major professional sports leagues in America and the number of teams that have gone undefeated:

The National Football League - 1, the 1972 Miami Dolphins

The National Basketball Association - 0

Major League Baseball - 0

The National Hockey League - 0

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Advent is the realization that without Jesus, we will never enter Heaven.  We must be covered in His righteousness or we will never see eternal life.  He is perfect because we are not.  Rather than mankind working their way towards God, God came to mankind.  He came wrapped in the frailty of humanity, as the Savior of the world.  He came as Immanuel - "God with us".  He lived on the earth and was perfect.  Then the only one to reach perfection sacrificed His own life on the cross for the rest of mankind.  On the third day, He rose from the dead and offers eternal life to anyone who will believe and receive Him as their personal Savior.  Advent!  Awesome!

Yet, I am always amazed at how followers of Christ can then try to act like they have perfection in their own lives.  We come to church and never let anyone see the kinks in our armor.  We don't want people to know we are struggling with our marriage or struggling with our kids or discouraged about our job or getting hammered by Algebra.  We feel like we have to act our the charade of being perfect because Christians aren't supposed to have messed up lives.  Can we please be real with each other and come to church to be encourage and to encourage others who are imperfect?  Can we love each other and share our struggles and spiritual strongholds?  I mean, if only one professional team has ever been perfect for a season and only one person ever been perfect, can we not actually allows ourselves to experience God's grace in our imperfection?  May this Advent season find you at peace with your flaws and failures.  May it find you willing to love others who blow it.  May it allow you the courage to share your heart with others.  May it give you the strength to try to please God just one more time.  May you be refreshed this Advent season.