International
17 May 07
A Final Call to be a Transformed Player – Luke 6:43-49
43"No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
46"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? 47I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. 48He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."
When Clive Woodward took over the management of the England rugby team he brought in a completely new mentality that revolutionised every aspect of the set-up, with the ultimate aim of transforming the team’s performance on the pitch. One change that symbolised this new approach was putting on a new shirt at half time, it was indicative of mentally starting the second half at nil-nil. Of course putting on the shirt didn’t itself transform the players; it was just the outworking of their new mentality. But imagine that one of the players had run out still wearing a grubby shirt that he’d worn in the first-half, you’d have to conclude that he hadn’t actually grasped and bought into England’s ‘new way of playing’.
A transformed heart always leads to transformed play (43-45)
Similarly here Jesus ends his momentous ‘team talk’ by urging us to live the changed lives that flow out from our transformed hearts. We need to be clear that these changed lives don’t ‘make’ us part of his transformed team, any more than putting on a new shirt at half time would change the player. But the link between internal change and transformed actions is so strong that a player on Jesus’ team will always play differently. That’s why Jesus uses the example of recognising a tree by its fruit because a good tree always bears good fruit, and a bad tree bad fruit (vs 43).
Of course all Christians when they look at their lives are only too aware of their failures to live God’s way, which is why the Christian keeps going back to the cross where God offers abundant forgiveness. But we need to be careful that by God’s grace we are trying live changed lives, and not just misusing grace as an excuse to not change, a player on Jesus’ team always wants to play Jesus’ way.
A final call to play in a transformed way (44-49)
Just before a coach sends you out on to the pitch he’ll re-emphasise the key thing that he wants you to remember. So as you go out into the world of sport, what is it that Jesus wants to be ringing in your ears? He wants you to take playing for him as seriously as he takes it. His players are serious about being different, about playing by his standards and becoming increasingly like him. Those that won’t play Jesus’ way, even if they profess to be on his team are in danger of kidding themselves – and one day they’ll be found out. As verse 49 says, when the storms of life come, they’ll have no foundations in a relationship with Jesus and so they’ll be swept away; more than likely meaning that they’ll become a person who says ‘yeah I did that Christian thing for a bit, but that was a long time ago now’. However, the person that has deep foundations in Christ will keep playing his way, even when others pressurise them to conform and ultimately they won’t be shaken.
So as this great team-talk comes to a close, why not look back through it and think about what being a transformed player will look like for you, and then ask God to give you his grace to change – it’s the only way to play!
Graham
You are currently subscribed to International Email. To unsubscribe click here