Wright Thompson’s ESPN article on Vince Lombardi is a good one. Told through the tale of his Green Bay home, Thompson does a good job capturing him in limited space. Much of what he said reminded me of what I learned from HBO’s documentary, Lombardi.

If you haven’t seen the documentary, I highly recommend it. HBO did a great job capturing Lombardi in all his strength and weakness. And boy were there weaknesses. No doubt he was a great football coach, but in his own admission, he was not a great husband and father. As many of you may know, Lombardi was famous for saying his priorities were God, family, and football (in particular Green Bay Packers’ football). And no doubt those three things were closest to his heart. But when you really learn about him, it becomes obvious that football took first place.

His story is a sad one really. No doubt he won five championships and is remembered fondly in football circles. But those five championships cost his family a great deal of happiness and maybe even in a sense cost him his life (he died at 57). Either way, what is even more sad is that his story is far from unique. For no matter what one’s walk of life may be, when one is consumed with greatness in one area of life, the other areas of life cannot help but suffer. And when those areas of life are ones that should be among the most important, well, that is sad. Very sad indeed.

In this respect, I believe it is wise for us to recognize that although the Lord wants us to pursue greatness in certain endeavors, it is oftentimes unwise to actually become as great as you can possibly be. For it cannot be denied that in order to become the absolute best you can possibly be, you must make sacrifices. But more times than not, those sacrifices are not worth the cost. Family, friends, a life that honors the Lord and has time for others. These are vital. To deny them in order to become the best player I can possibly be or one day, the best coach I can possibly be at the highest of levels…well, long-term, it just doesn’t make sense.

That being said, I do believe there is often a way to do both. At least to a certain extent. And whatever that extent is, well, that is what we should be pursuing. In whatever our walks of life. And I really do mean whatever our walks of life. For there are plenty of pastors who make the same mistake as Lombardi. So also businessmen or teachers or whoever. We are all in danger, so we are wise to be alert, on our guard, always praying for wisdom and looking to the only One who defines what really matters in the end.