There is a story told about Hall of Fame quarterback, Joe Montana, who led the San Fransisco 49’ers to four Super Bowl victories and won the NFL MVP three times. It was January 22nd, 1989 and the Niners were attempting a comeback against the Cincinnati Bengals in Miami. He was in the huddle and it was an incredibly tense moment. Montana, not sweating the pressure, joked to his teammates and said to them, “Look it’s John Candy” and pointed to the stands. Candy, an actor, was there. It was a very clever way to lighten the mood. He went on to lead his team to victory in that Super Bowl.
Montana was a talented QB, who retired with numerous NFL records. But his greatest trait was his leadership. A documentary about his life was even titled: “Joe Montana: Cool Under Pressure.”
In 1 Timothy 3, Paul is helping Timothy identify leaders in the church at Ephesus. In his list of traits, there are the obvious qualifiers we all immediately gravitate toward faithfulness in marriage and competence in teaching. But there is another trait that is considered essential: being cool under pressure. The Christian Standard Bible describes it as something like this: self-controlled, sensible, respectable. Other translations use the term “sober-minded.”
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