I’m not quite to the point of suggesting that every pastor ought to subscribe to Sports Illustrated–that swimsuit issue coming to your house might not be a good idea–but almost. Every time I pick one up, it seems, I find a great sermon illustration or idea for a message.

The February 1, 2010, pre-Super Bowl issue carries articles on the Saints and the Colts. I bought it more as a memento, but will keep it for its account of the way Saints Coach Sean Payton inspired his team to win the game that would send them to the Super Bowl.

Football coaches are saddled with one of the toughest assignments possible. In addition to preparing their soldiers for the big battle–one that gets repeated against a new enemy every week during the warring season–they have to come up with a motivational speech or inspirational gimmick for that last minute burst of energy. A few pre-game or half-time speeches are legendary. Every fan knows about Knute Rockne’s “Win one for the Gipper” speech to the Notre Dame players.

In high school, it’s hard to do. In college, it gets tougher. But in the pros, the NFL, where every player is a multi-millionaire and many are celebrities with huge followings, the challenge to come up with words to inspire a team before battle is off the charts in difficulty.

We pastors are motivators–or should be. We can learn from the masters of the craft. In Coach Sean Payton, the New Orleans Saints have a leader who has motivaton-of-his-troops down to a fine art.

On Saturday night, January 23, Coach Payton met with the team at their hotel in downtown New Orleans. Twenty-four hours later, the Saints would go head-to-head against the tough Minnesota Vikings for the NFC championship. The winner would represent the NFC in the Super Bowl against the Indianapolis Colts on February 7.

For their entire 43 year history, the Saints had never won an NFC championship game. In fact, only one other time had they played for the championship, in 2006, a game they lost in a frustrating, frigid, snowy Chicago stadium.

The Saints were in uncharted territory. They had never been here before. Win this game against the Vikings and earn a ticket to the big show.

What would Payton do to motivate the team?

The best way to tell this story is let SI writer Peter King have the floor. Here it is, verbatim:

“As the players settled in for their last team meeting before the NFC Championship Game against the Vikings, the lights dimmed. Aerosmith’s ‘Dream On’ started playing at a Superdome-decibel level, and on the video screen at the front of the room great moments in sports history went by in rapid-fire order.

“Babe Ruth homering, Michael Jordan scoring, Pete Maravich floating, Roberto Clemente fielding, Tiger Woods fist-pumping, Eddie Robinson coaching, Wayne Gretzky scoring, Jim Valvano leaping, Larry Bird shooting, Muhammad Ali punching, the Bears Super Bowl-shuffling, Doug Flutie passing, the 1980 U.S.Olympic hockey team celebrating–on and on, as goose bumps rose to the pulsating chorus: ‘Dream on, dream on, dream on….’

“And when the lights came up, there was Ronnie Lott, a four-time Super Bowl champion. Payton had invited the Hall of Fame defensive back to speak to his players before the season, at which time Lott told the Saints he could ‘smell greatness in the room.’ SMELL GREATNESS t-shirts were promptly distributed to the players.

“Now Lott stood before them holding one of the purple baseball bats each player had received that night as a reminder to hit the Vikings hard on Sunday. Lott tapped the bat in his hand, staring intently at the players, and said, ‘What I wouldn’t give to have the chance to go out there, just one more time, to do what you’re going to do tomorrow. To become a champion again.’

“‘It’s something I’ll never forget,’ free safety Darren Sharper, 34, would say later. ‘Ronnie’s the epitome of greatness in our game, and for so many reasons on and off the field, this was our chance for greatness–to seize the moment. It may never come again.'”

The game that Sunday night, January 24, rates as one of the hardest-hitting contests ever. Both sides stood like battle-scarred veteran boxers beating each other senseless, both determined to win. It was hard to watch and impossible to turn away from.

The Saints came away with the victory in overtime.

I’m not one who easily says the Vikings were the better team, but they were outplayed that night in every way that mattered by a Saints team that would not be denied.

The New Orleans Saints were the better motivated team, no doubt about it.

One has to wonder what Sean Payton will do to top that. After all–and this is being written on Tuesday, February 2, before the Super Bowl on Sunday–that’s the problem with dramatic motivational displays: you have to find some way to top it next time.

Eventually, the troops become weary of being played like this. Oh, it is grand theater when it happens the way it did for the Saints, but a coach can’t do this every week.

People who know football say our coach is a genius on numerous levels. That prompts me to say, “He’ll find a way.”

And in finding that way, Coach Payton will also take into consideration that he has to vary the approach or it ceases to be effective.

We might learn or we may never know what he will do this week. I suspect if the Saints pull this out and win Super Bowl XLIV in Miami, we’ll hear every detail of the coach’s motivational work.

Stay tuned.

After speaking to a state-wide convention of realtors, I took a seat off to one side to hear the fellow following me. He was advertised as a motivational speaker with a growing reputation. Since we pastors are in something of the same business, I wanted to pick up whatever pointers he had to offer.

This man–I regret I’ve forgotten his name–walked to the podium, looked out at the crowd of several hundred, and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to invite a dozen of you to jump into a pile here on the carpet in front and scratch and claw one another.”

They looked at him like he had lost his mind.

He said, “Clearly, for you to do something so bizarre, you’re going to need a little motivating.”

With that, he reached inside his coat pocket and pulled out a 50 dollar bill.

“In a moment,” he said, “I’m going to drop this 50 dollar bill on the floor in front of the podium. Whoever gets it can have it.”

He had our undivided attention.

“Now, before I let go of it, would any of you like to move to the front row?”

A number did. Soon, all 15 or 20 of the front-row seats were filled.

He turned loose of the bill. As it floated toward the carpet, the chairs emptied as these dignified men and women, professionals in their vocations, dressed in their convention finest, went for the money.

Thirty seconds later, the group untangled and everyone stood to their feet while one man held the bill high for all to see he was the champion. Everyone laughed and returned to their seats.

“At first,” the speaker said, “you were too dignified to do what I asked. But ladies and gentlemen, never forget: people are always willing to give up their dignity if they are highly motivated.”

Being the preacher, I have used that as a sermon introduction on numerous occasions. It illustrates a huge problem pastors see in their congregations: people who refuse to confess Christ or receive baptism or share their faith because of a fear of losing their dignity.

Motivation can be well done and used for positive benefits. It can be misused with harmful results.

Asked why Adolf Hitler was such an effective motivator of the German people in his speeches, a man who was there said, “He did three things: he kept it simple, he said it often, he made it burn.”

Recently, a pastor friend told me his congregation was stuck. They refused to welcome new people who visited their church, they turned away from new ideas he presented, and yet they seemed to have a genuine desire to serve Christ. This combination of circumstances was baffling him.

I said, “My friend, they need motivating.”

He said, “I don’t doubt that a minute. Now, tell me how.”

I said, “Every church is different and so is every pastor. No one size fits all. Your only resource for this to my knowledge is to consult your greatest Helper in pastoring this church, One who loves it more than you and wants it to succeed more than you could ever.”

“The Lord, huh?”

“Specifically,” I said, “the Holy Spirit.”

He said, “Pray, right?”

“Prayer is one of a half-dozen things you’ll want to do.”

“You’re going to tell me?”

“I’m going to tell you what little I know. And it’s this….

Pray repeatedly and earnestly for the Lord to show you what to do to awaken His people.

Search the Scriptures, always being open to the Holy Spirit drawing your attention to something you’ve never seen before.

Listen to everything going on around you, particularly the conversation and sermons from other preachers.

Pick up the books you feel drawn to. Pay attention to ideas that linger with you hours after you’ve quit reading. Go back and re-read those parts. (That’s how I came to write about the Sports Illustrated article here. I read the story last night and was awake at 3:30 am with it on my mind.)

Keep on praying.

Wait on the Lord. Do not attempt to awaken your church on your own, to motivate your people in the flesh. Do not seek out a copy of Aerosmith’s “Dream On” to play for your deacons or your congregation.

If you decide to fast while praying, that would be good. It’s up to you.

Pull in a few prayer warriors whom you trust to join you in this prayer.

Always remember the deeper the deadness in your team, the tougher the motivational job that will be required to resurrect them.

The Holy Spirit is the Chief Motivator of the Lord’s people.

Jesus said, “You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses….” (Acts 1:8)

Do not fail to notice the change in the disciples who burst out of the Upper Room to share the gospel with the thousands who had journeyed to Jerusalem for Pentecost (Acts 2). Only a few days earlier, these timid disciples of Jesus had had the locks changed on the doors to keep themselves safe. Now, they are knocking the door off its hinges, so eager are they to get outside.

Someone has motivated them.

Invite a Champion.

Bring Him to your church, invite Him to do what He does best in you and with your people.