How Are Your Game Films
Art Debernarde
Riverview Evangelical Free Church
March 2006
I remember when I played football that the coaches took films of every game. These game films were then evaluated. Our performances improved because attention was paid to the diagnostic issues revealed in the films.
So if Jesus said the most important thing is to love Him with all your heart all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind, my question to you is. . . "What do your game films look like?" What kind of diagnostic questions are you asking to make sure that your heart is on track with Him?
I have four such diagnostic questions to evaluate how my love for Christ is going. This is not an exhaustive list. But if God wants you to love Him, you need to be able to understand how your love is going, or whether you're beginning to listen to other voices and get off track, and how you can get back on task.
One. If Jesus came back this moment would I be disappointed? Is there something I want more than Him at this moment? Is there something in my life like a weed that can grow through concrete that would begin to root Christ out of my heart? Some rival?
If you ask this question and you have difficulty answering it, it doesn't mean you are unspiritual. You're only unspiritual if you're content to leave it that way. Asking the question is good because it may reveal some areas of struggle that are beginning to manifest themselves in your life. Then you can get to the place where you say "God give me grace where I want nothing in this life more than you, where I can love you foremost of all." Or, as C.S. Lewis says, "Learn the art of putting first things first, we'll get second things thrown in. But if we love second things first, we lose out on first and second things."
Two. Can I say 'thank you' in the midst of my present set of circumstances? Beat up and bruised by them though you may be. We might say, "How do I give thanks for that?" Sometimes we may have to thank Him by faith, trusting that He's sovereign and in control, believing that what He did in the circumstances surrounding Calvary He can also do in the circumstances of our lives. But if we can't say 'thank you', even if it's by faith, then by default we're saying, "God it's not You that satisfies. It's You- plus some other things in my life."
Francis Schaffer's book True Spirituality says, "The Ten Commandments are remarkable. They start out with 'Thou shalt have no other Gods before Me,' which is God saying 'Thou shalt have me!' and they end with 'Thou shalt not covet' which is saying 'be content with me.'"
If we can't say 'thank you,' it doesn't mean we're unspiritual. It only means we're unspiritual if something pops up on our screen that's more important than Him and we're content to leave it that way.
Three. 1 John 4:20 says ". . . .For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen." The question is - am I out of sorts with anybody? Is there a broken relationship that I'm responsible for? One where all the cards are in your hand. Not one where you have done all possible to reconcile but the other person is irreconcilable.
Four. In John 21, the resurrected Christ has an encounter with Peter. Peter had denied Christ three times. Dorothy Sayers wrote an essay called the triumph of Easter. In it she makes the observation that when Jesus rose from the dead; He told Mary "go tell the disciples and Peter...." The same Peter who denied Him is the Peter whom the resurrected Christ included in the announcement. Then she made this observation - "Isn't it too bad Judas didn't wait around?" What grace! What love! What magnitude of acceptance! Then Peter has his first real encounter where it's a one on one situation by the side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus looks Peter in the eye and He asks him the fourth question.... "Peter do you love me?" I'd like to ask you to take Peter's name out and insert your own name and imagine Him looking you in the eye and asking you.... "Do you love Me?" Jesus uses the word agapao. It's the highest form of love. It's God-like love. It's giving in its orientation. It is sacrificial for the welfare of another. It asks, "Peter do you love Me with the love with which I love you?" And Peter's response was "Lord, I like You a lot." Isn't it incredible that Jesus doesn't look at Peter and say "Peter, why don't you take a hike! When you can get your act together and you can love Me with a love that's commensurate with My love for you, then you can get on board and be one of My disciples and we'll go change the world." But He doesn't do that does He? He accepts him on the level of love he could give at that moment and I say 'praise the Lord, there's hope for me.' He says "Feed my sheep," and He commissions him into ministry. He does so based on the level of love Peter could offer at that moment.
Where am I in my walk with Christ? On our road have we forgotten to hear the voice behind us? Have we been distracted by too many things? Maybe we can't even rise to the high level of Peter's "Lord I like you a lot." Maybe the best we can do is say "Lord, I want to love you." Or maybe it's a "Lord, I want to want to love you." But He can move your "Lord, I want to want to love You," up to a "Lord, I want to love You," and your "Lord, I want to love You," up to a "Lord, I like You a lot," and your "Lord, I like You a lot," up to a "Lord, I love You."
Do you know why I ask you these questions? Because loving Jesus is the most important thing you can do. I know that's true because He said so in His book.
Art Debernarde is the Director of Men's Ministries at Riverview Evangelical Free Church.