Something more...

He is at the top of his field. At 28 years old, he's already won the Super Bowl three times, and was named MVP in two of them. He has never lost a playoff game or in overtime, and he currently has a 10 year, 60 million dollar contract (more money than he ever thought possible playing football). Off the field, he has on occasion been tagged the most eligible bachelor in America. He has been invited by the president to the State of the Union Address, and has even hosted Saturday Night Live.

Of course, I am talking about Tom Brady, quarterback for the New England Patriots. Tom was recently interviewed by 60 Minutes' Steve Kroft to discuss his success in a piece called "Tom Brady: The Winner." As I read the transcript, this stood out to me:

But with all Brady's fame and career accomplishments, Kroft was surprised to hear this from him: “Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there's something greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, ‘Hey man, this is what is.’ I reached my goal, my dream, my life. Me, I think, ‘God, it's got to be more than this.’ I mean this isn't, this can't be what it's all cracked up to be.”

“What's the answer?” asks Kroft.

“I wish I knew. I wish I knew,” Brady replies.

Most would say, “what more could a guy want?” He has wealth and popularity. He has achieved his goals and his dreams. Yet the story is eerily familiar.

Nearly 3000 years ago, a king named Solomon related in the book of Ecclesiastes:

I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well—the delights of the heart of man. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.

Solomon had accomplished more than most of us could dream. Yet, his response was the same as Tom Brady's...this can't be what it's all cracked up to be.

As surprising as the confessions of Solomon and Brady seem to be, I think we have all felt this way at some point. There’s that feeling that there is something greater, something more worth living for.

In his search for meaning, Solomon came to this end:

Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

Many people (including myself at one point) have criticized Christians for their zeal to tell others about their faith. Unfortunately, many of these are also the ones who respond like Tom Brady, “I wish I knew. I wish I knew.” To a Christian, Solomon’s conclusion is no surprise. We know it because we have experienced it. There is no achievement, no possession, there is nothing greater or more fulfilling in this life than following Christ. That is the answer. We do not share it to say “I told you so.” We share it so that others may know the peace of knowing the answer too, that they will no longer have to live in the emptiness that we lived in before we knew Christ.

I hope and pray that there is someone in Tom Brady’s life who can tell him the answer. There is so much more to this life than fame, fortune, and Super Bowl rings.