Did you see that national championship game between Texas and USC? Wow! The Texas quarterback, Vince Young, was amazing! He put on the greatest performance by a single player that many of us have ever seen. I think he rushed and threw for 467 total yards. The game went back and forth and then came down to one final fourth down play where Young scrambled and scored to carry Texas to a victory. A billion people watching the Rose Bowl were stunned and breathless.

Beyond the entertainment value of such a performance, you’ve got to ask, “What will Young’s example inspire?” The extraordinary example of one person raises the bar on what we think is possible. David Bowie sang, “We could be heroes.” Within all of us throbs the possibility of more than just 15 seconds of fame, the possibility that we could actually do something heroic, as Bowie sings, “just for one day.”

Let me draw a parallel. Discipling is seeing this possibility in another person. It’s believing in some heroic and brave future version of another person. As parents discipling kids, we owe it to our children to believe that they could be heroes - that in their chosen field, and as disciples, they could carry the ball across the end zone on the last play. That coworkers will love being with them, that friends will be encouraged by them. That their actions will in some way amaze us.

Real love, Paul says to the Corinthians in his first letter, “believes all things.” Even some of the most steadfast Texas fans had stopped believing that they could win. Some of us need to practice believing in those we love, even when it seems to not make sense.