by Robert M. Smith
In most games
there are winners and losers. In some games one can lose phony money,
make-believe property, imaginary lives and even immaterial spaceships
but at the heart of every defeat and every victory is one’s own
reputation. The chattel, the points and the funny money that changes
hands during a game are merely those elements which declare a winner or
a loser.
Some games/sports
such as professional football, hockey, baseball, soccer, tennis, golf
and basketball have real money riding on the outcome … particularly when
played in a “final series”. Oddly enough, however, the reputation of an
individual or a team becomes a curious admixture when a “title” is won;
being deemed the world’s best or the world champion has a certain
satisfaction that money simply cannot compete with. Pride, therefore,
has every bit as much to do with winning as the financial rewards. Being
recognized as a winner then provides a breeding ground for
self-glorification and self-centeredness.
Many secular
accomplishments are accompanied by a vast array of material and
immaterial trophies. In contradistinction, when a Christian plays a
secular game he/she should be able to override the emphasis placed upon
both types of reward in order to pass glory and exaltation on to his/her
Lord. Though often misunderstood and misinterpreted by fans, there is an
increasing number of professional athletes, who also happen to be
followers of Christ, engaged in thanking God for their abilities, their
successes and even their losses on the highly-visible stage of
professional sports. This attitude is depicted so well by the
Spirit-guided pen of the Apostle John as he writes about the twenty-four
elders he saw worshipping before the throne of God, in the book of
Revelation (Rev 4:10-11). Their crowns are rewards for faithful service
to God throughout their earthly lives but in His presence the elders
proclaim that Christ is the truly worthy One and so they cast those
golden crowns before Him. Of course, it is only reasonable to assume
that if our victories are to be handed over to Him, our defeats must
also be handed over to Him. This is a particularly poignant concept for
from within a tremendous personal loss either true service to God or
service to self will show forth. So often in our lives, however, the
natural bent of man surfaces and, with it, spectators cannot
differentiate between the Christian game-player and the rest of the
secular participants. Taking this even further, we shall be going much
deeper than temporal competitions: we must examine, with all due
responsibility and objectivity, those games that a child of God often
plays against his own heavenly Father. What happens when a believer
plays games with God? What does a Christian hope to accomplish in such
games? What does the Christian see and what goes unnoticed in such
endeavours?
To be sure, each
game that we play with God fosters and reinforces particular attitudes,
propositions and rewards [or a lack thereof] but there are some
underlying – perhaps, even unconscious – tendencies within this whole
scenario, just as there is on the secular level. It can be confidently
argued that any degree of play is primarily for amusement. This cannot
be ruled out in any of the insubordinate triflings that we, as
Christians, attempt either. In Isaiah 55:8-9 we find that God is quite
different from anyone else that we have ever known or experienced: “For
my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says
the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways
higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” He does not
approach situations or circumstances the way a man would and that leaves
us rather apprehensive in our relationships with Him. Still, over and
above even this, there is that persistent inclination that, when it
comes to our lives and our circumstances, we know which is the
better of the two “ways”. My way, man’s way or the natural way is the
way of amusement and ease (Matt 7:13-14). Our ways are designed for
self-gratification, thus appearing much more attractive than the
frequently tougher route that God would lead us toward. If and when we
begin to play games with God our basic premise starts here.
In addition to
this, the reward we seek is often the same as the premise we have just
considered. We hope that by exercising our own choice on a given matter
we will ultimately attain satisfactory results for ourselves while
results for God are ignored, neglected and denied. In other words,
believer and unbeliever alike, tends to acquiesce to the pitiful state
of doing what is right in their own eyes … only the levels and
repercussions varying in depth and magnitude. Recall that it was Isaiah
who wrote, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned every one to his own way;” (Isa 53:6). That great man of
God did not exclude himself with his assessment of the human predicament
… and we dare not either.
These are the
basic perspectives of human eyes, whether they are Christian or not, but
what about God’s perspective? What is at stake in these games as far as
He sees it?
Primarily, it
cannot be overlooked and understated that God loses a disciple when His
way is ignored. We may not consider this to be of major import at first
glance but, if that be the case, we should obviously examine this
further. Jesus, throughout His earthly ministry, constantly dwelt upon
the matter of obtaining disciples (Matt 10:24-42; Matt 16:24-25; Lk
8:57-62; Lk 14:25-35; Jn 8:31; Jn 13:34-35; Jn 15:8) and the “good news”
was to be proclaimed to the world in order to bring forth, neither
believers nor converts nor “Christians” nor decisions for Christ, but
disciples (Matt 28:18-20). If one were not to pick up his cross and
follow Jesus Christ, he was not a disciple. In other words, if we aren’t
going God’s way and if we do not have our eyes firmly fixed on Him, we
are not His disciples and therefore, not what we should be.
There exists, in
Paul’s epistle to the Romans, a certain phrase which addresses the
inconsistency of blind guides and false teachers. Paul was targeting
those who taught one thing and lived another … indeed those who were
playing a game with the Law. In his assessment, Paul utilized two Old
Testament references, in tandem, to denounce this game and all other
subsequent games played by any believer. Combining Isaiah 52:5 [“My
name is continually blasphemed all day long.”
NASB] with Ezekiel 36:21 [“But I had concern for My holy name,
which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they
went.” NASB] Paul composed this
statement under the guidance of the Holy Spirit:
“For the name of God is blasphemed among the
Gentiles because of you,” (Rom 2:24 NASB)
The games we play
will invariably lead to the disgrace of God’s name among those who can
least afford to look at it askance! When we fool around with the truth
of God we – who are to be ambassadors for Christ on earth (2 Cor 5:20) –
become traitors to our Sovereign as we cause others to see Him
incorrectly. Of all things, as witnessed in countless Old Testament
passages, this is the most odious and deplorable thing that could be
done to God! God loses His rightful place in the eyes of all created
things when we cheapen His grace and glory through the games we play!
In addition to
this loss there are specific benefits or blessings that are advanced to
a disciple of Christ which are subsequently jeopardized when playing
games with God. Ponder the chain reaction established in Jn 8:31-32.
Continue in Jesus’ word and you will be a disciple; by being a disciple
you will know the truth; the truth – not a knowledge of the truth but
the truth, itself or Himself – will make you free.
What is at stake
for us in our games with God? Though we seldom realize it, it is a deep
personal, experiential knowledge of the truth and a freedom derived from
that same truth. Jesus Christ, who is Truth (Jn 14:6) offers us an
intimate relationship with Himself and a special kind of liberty
reserved for the children of God. Even before the game begins we become
losers and yet we continue to tinker and trade in the silly, temporal
and all-too-typical human hope that we are achieving something, by
taking upon ourselves the lives that were worthless and nonproductive
before Jesus Christ transformed them.
Also at stake is
the fact that the unity and love inherent within a group of Christ’s
disciples (Jn 13:34-35) will be missing in our fellowship. Certainly we
will lack harmony with God but we seem to think that this will remain
hidden on a temporal level. Jn 13:35 indicates otherwise, however. As
the amity and equilibrium of a heart set after a divine pattern will
overflow into horizontal relationships, so too will any deviation from
that supernatural pattern.
We must also be
reminded that there is a certain lifestyle that is lost when we pit
ourselves against God. The Apostle Paul placed this same argument before
the Corinthian Christians with this as his main thrust: “The
unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for
they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because
they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man judges all things, but
is himself to be judged by no one. ‘For who has known the mind of the
Lord so as to instruct Him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.
But I, brethren, could not address you as spiritual
men, but as men of the flesh, as babes in Christ.”
(1 Cor 2:14-3:1 RSV)
The Corinthians,
you see, were also playing games with God and Paul was hereby giving
them an ultimatum. He says that one should be able to, easily, discern
which is the better of the two types of life: unspiritual or spiritual.
And yet, these Corinthians were not spiritual, so what were they?
If it is true
wisdom and true knowledge of God that one desires, the only route
available is the spiritual route. And at the very core of a spiritual
life is Jesus Christ, the crucified Saviour (1 Cor 2:2; 2:7-8; 2:16) and
not ourselves.
What else can we
lose in our games with God?
We can lose
spiritual discernment and the comprehension of God’s thoughts and ways;
we can lose the wisdom that God bestows; we can lose access to the
spiritual gifts that God has to offer; but most of all we can lose the
mind of Christ. We can deliberately will His mind from having any
significant influence upon or in our own lives. And yet we are
constantly urged not to be so foolish in ignoring this blessed
opportunity (Rom 8:9-11; 12:2; Eph 3:14-19; Phil 2:5-7; 4:7). A disciple
can have a lifestyle similar to his Master’s, where he actually begins
to think like Him. Christianity – true Christianity – is the
relationship with God through Christ and the call to be
Christ-like. As we play our little games with God we place a strain on
our relationships with Him but in addition to that our Christ-likeness
is obliterated.