27 October 2007

Have you ever been infected with Distraction Syndrome?

Growing up I enjoyed playing soccer. I started playing in the fifth grade so I had learned a lot about the game by high school. During my freshman year of high school I had the opportunity to play on the soccer team at my Christian high school. Having the honor to make the team was exciting enough. When I was asked to be the captain, I was ecstatic to say the least. We did fairly well. Not a World Cup season but a good start. One of my most memorable games was our last game of the regular season against the only undefeated team in our district. Not only had this team not been beaten, they had gone all season without even being scored on! If we beat them we would go to the championship tournament in pretty good shape! As captain it was my job to "pump up" the rest of the team before each game, you know, screaming at the top of my lungs until the whole team was in an uncontrollable frenzy, that kinda stuff. So for this game my work was cut out for me. After warm-ups we huddled up on the field in a huge circle screaming our ritualistic banter as the other team looked on. In their eyes you could see the fear already setting in! (Not really.) By the time the game started adrenaline was seeping out of every pore. As the game went on it was obvious that this was one of our better efforts. Not far into the first half, I saw my opportunity. I moved up from midfield calling for the ball. The excitement was overwhelming! My teammate passed the ball perfectly, leading me straight towards the goal. I could hear the screaming of the feverish crowd chanting my name! (It was just in my head though, there were only about seven spectators because of the bad weather, and they weren't even cheering for us!) In one perfect moment I launched a beautiful shot into the top right corner of the goal over the goalies hands! I scored! We went nuts! The team ran to me to celebrate with high fives and chest-bumps as we prepared to go at it again. Not far into the second half, I scored another goal and, again, high fives and chest-bumps. We went crazy! What made these goals all the more fulfilling was that the other team had not even scored yet. In our minds we could already see our teams name on the state championship cup. But as we basked in the light of recognition and glory, something happened. Our defense was breaking down. Not only did our opponents score on us, they did it four times! In less than ten minutes! Talk about a letdown. They don't get much worse than that in the high school sports dream-crushing department! All the air had been taken out of our sails. Our adrenaline turned into tar and we slowed to a crawl. Just to add a little more shame to the humiliation I lost my temper and was taken out of the game. (Extremely embarrassing.) What happened? We lost it! We completely shut down! Before it was all over, the other team even seemed to feel sorry for us.

Looking back I can see that as a result of the two points we scored against the un-defeated, un-scored-on team, we lost our focus. Sure it was a great accomplishment, but we were distracted by what we had achieved.

So often in our Christian lives our accomplishments distract us from the rest of the battle. Victory over temptation, a soul won to the Lord, standing for God in a group of worldly friends - in the face of strong opposition things like these are great accomplishments and you should rejoice in the Lord for them, but don't lose your focus! Don't forget that there is still a battle to fight. Don't forget that the other team could still score on you and win the game. The Devil can use accomplishments to distract and defeat you.

When Paul was faced with this "distraction syndrome", he had to forget about the accomplishments in the past and "press toward the mark". Look at what he said in Phil. 3:13-14:

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Think of it this way - you have done something that makes God happy; now look for something else to do for him. Never be satisfied with just one or two points for your team. Seal the deal! Go for more! With the ultimate objective being to please God in all that you do, accomplish great things for Him. Don't be satisfied with just doing a little more than the teens around you. Make your goal a whole lot higher than that! Go out and accomplish great things through and for God, all the while staying alert to the fact that Satan is still attacking.

We want to hear back from you. Write and let us know how you're doing. Write a letter or e-mail and tell us about victories in your life or about goals you have set for yourself. We want to pray with you for victory in your battle, but we will hold off on the high fives and chest-bumps until we get to Heaven!

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