Falling Apples

In describing a son, a great man once observed, "The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree." Another stated of a boy, "He’s a chip off the old block." Another saying, perhaps more familiar, is "Like father, like son." Recent Super Bowls are living athletic proofs of these sayings.
The Manning name has graced football for years. Archie was a college and NFL star who received numerous awards. At his college alma mater, "Ole Miss," he was named Quarterback of the Century. Manning played ball with the Saints, Vikings and Oilers and was named to the Pro Bowl in 1978 and 1979.

Archie and his wife Olivia, who is involved in extensive charitable work, had three sons. Their oldest, Cooper Manning, had a great high school football career as a wide receiver and probably would have been a college and NFL star himself until a serious spinal cord disorder took him off the field. It was a stunning blow that he accepted graciously. Second son Peyton Manning is quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts and was named MVP in their defeat of the Chicago Bears in last year’s Super Bowl. Youngest son Eli Manning led the New York Giants to their incredible win over the favored New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII a few days ago.

Is all this simply coincidental or accidental, just a weird twist of family fate, or is there some familial tie that binds them? The Mannings’ parental imprint is astonishing. These boys vicariously lived and breathed football all their young years as dad played so much. Mrs. Manning evidently impressed young Eli with her acceptance of the lonely disciplines of a football family.

There is a verse from wise old Solomon that applies here. Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it." "Train up" is the translation of a Hebrew word meaning "to narrow" or "to discipline." "Way" simply means "a road."

Hebrews 12:7-11 has a fabulous expansion of the principle of the disciplined narrow road. "If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."(emphasis mine)

These last two Super Bowls are really the "afterward" in the Manning family. The word "chastening" means "child rearing" or "training up a child," and it carries the idea of discipline. And a disciple is one who is disciplined. There seems to be a nutty notion abroad that a child is benefited by giving him unfettered freedom. Don’t correct the child, just let him loose. You see it all the time in restaurants, shopping centers and on playgrounds. The thinking today seems to be "Don’t crowd the child; you’ll hurt him somehow." A wise man once stated, "The child that argues with his mother over putting on his overshoes has no time left to build a snowman." Another said, "He has freedom of the seas who is prisoner to the compass."

The Bible speaks about youthful discipline. "The rod and rebuke give wisdom, But a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. … Correct your son, and he will give you rest; Yes, he will give delight to your soul" (Prov. 29:15 & 17). This rod is one of correction, according to Prov. 22:15. "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of correction shall drive it far from him."

If my father were disciplining me today as he did when I was a boy and the state-mandated rules forbidding spanking were enforced, he would probably be spending lots of time in a jail cell under some liberal judge’s ruling.

Check out how many missionary kids become missionaries and how many pastors’ boys become pastors. That’s why we shouldn’t criticize missionaries who have large families as I’ve heard some do. "How can we support all those kids on the field?" Support them willingly because they are raising more missionaries.

My dad was a preacher, and so am I. As the Manning boys were imprinted with sports, I was imprinted with Scripture and service as Dad served others in ministry. A healthy, guided childhood produces a wonderful generational continuity—a splendid example of which is seen in tandem Super Bowls.

David Virkler