Two years ago Madison’s Memorial Day Brat Fest celebration invited Lifest of Oshkosh to the show, with a new stage featuring Christian music and a Sunday morning community worship service. This year the Lifest at Brat Fest Sunday service ventured further up the Fox River Valley to connect with the Green Bay Packers, bringing in former All Pro defensive lineman Aaron Kampman as the speaker.
Kampman, who left the Packers after his seventh season in 2009, is now retired from football but still connected through the Green Bay Packers Trust (according to bio information). He’s also a Dallas Theological Seminary graduate, according to his introduction.
“We all have moments when we struggle,” Kampman said, referencing Jordan Spieth’s infamous collapse on the 12th hole of last month’s Master’s Golf Tournament, or himself memorably missing a Drew Breese tackle during a Packers/Chargers game.
Kampman said Green Bay’s switch from a 4-3 to a 2-4 defense in 2009 was another time when he struggled. The defensive end position he had been working so hard to master no longer existed. “God gave me a great opportunity to see where my motivation was coming from,” he said.
Kampman realized that many men today get their motivation and identity from what they do. “We’re great when we do well and we’re terrible when we do poorly,” he said. “I’ve been down the performance road and I’m here to tell you there’s a better way. The only way to have a true identity is found in a relationship with Jesus Christ.”
It can be dangerous to allow our identity to be derived from what we do. “Being and doing are two different things,” Kampman said. “Motivation and confidence comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ. We get abundant life. Not a perfect life, but an abundant life.”
Several hundred people were in attendance when the community service began at 8:30am under cloudy skies. The crowd had doubled in size by the time the service ended.
I Am They, a fresh Christian band originally from Carson City, Nevada, provided worship music and returned later in the evening to perform again on the Lifest stage. They featured unusually engaging lyrics and exceptional musicianship.
Some additional notes:
Bratman (Brat Fest organizer Tim Metcalfe) stood near the sound booth and listened intently throughout the whole service, in spite of having probably a myriad of other details to attend to.
Brat Fest reminded everyone who attended about the true purpose of Memorial Day with Wisconsin Remembers, a display featuring a photo of every Wisconsin Vietnam War casualty who is listed on the Vietnam War memorial.
