Don't Win the Wrong Game

Sometimes the most dangerous thing in life isn't chasing the wrong thing. It's chasing a good thing the wrong way.

Men, we tend to be all-consuming and relentless in our pursuit of everything, especially good things.

Work? Good. God created it. Sport? Good. Marriage? God created, 100% good. Your thing? Probably good.

I turned a good thing bad over the weekend.

We went out of town for a baseball tournament. My son pitched one of the best games of his young career. I was proud of him.

Sunday came. Close game, extra innings. Two outs, a couple of runners on. Our pitcher was struggling because the other team's dugout was screaming while he was throwing and he couldn't focus. I needed an out. He had thrown 60 pitches the day before.

Then I did something I swore I'd never do. "Hey son, how's your arm?"

Stupid. I knew the answer before I asked. I knew it wasn't an accurate answer. I knew he'd tell me what I wanted to hear because he wanted the ball.

"It feels amazing!"

We lost the game. I hurt my son. And I violated my values.

This week, studying Matthew 4, I kept running into a better Father leading His Son.

The Holy Spirit Brought Jesus to the Right Game

Matthew 3 ends with Jesus's baptism, which I wrote about in The God Who Got in Line. Immediately after, the Holy Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan (Matt 4:1–11).

Satan wanted Jesus to win the wrong game. He still does the same with us. He doesn't tempt Jesus to cuss, drink, or break an obvious commandment. He tempts Jesus to operate from His own power instead of trusting the Father.

That's the real battle is not moralism vs. immorality, but self-reliance vs. submission. Satan will happily let you be a "good man" if it keeps you from being a dependent son.

Know Your Playbook

If you want to fight, know your Bible. Most of us guys are ready to go toe-to-toe when we feel wronged. But the real fight isn't physical. The only weapon that works against the ultimate enemy is the Sword of Scripture.

Jesus could have called legions of angels. That wasn't the fight He was there to win. The bigger battle was spiritual, and Jesus fought it with the Word.

Satan tempted Him in three approaches: provision, protection, and power.

Provision. Satan dared Jesus to turn stones into bread. Prove your sonship, feed yourself, act independently of your Father. Jesus answered from Deuteronomy 8:3: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." Jesus trusted the Father's timing over His own hunger.

Protection. Satan took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and quoted Psalm 91. "He will command His angels concerning you." Jesus answered from Deuteronomy 6:16: "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test." Jesus refused to demand proof of a promise He already believed.

Power. Satan showed Jesus every kingdom of the world and offered them to him. If Jesus would worship him. Jesus answered from Deuteronomy 6:13: "You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve." Jesus refused to take the crown without the cross.

Notice what Satan didn't do. He didn't argue about Jesus's identity. The temptations assume it, "since you are the Son of God." The attack wasn't on the title. The attack was on whether Jesus would trust the Father's goodness enough to wait.

It's easy to win the wrong game.

Jesus was fully human. He could feel the pull of hunger, comfort, and a shortcut to a crown. Satan offered Him a fast track: skip the suffering, get the kingdoms now. From the outside, it would have looked like a win. It would have been the wrong win.

He chose obedience over the shortcut. And it cost Him everything.

The Right Roster for the Right Game

After the wilderness, Jesus doesn't go recruit the obvious candidates for the throne He just refused to take early. He moves into the region of Zebulun and Naphtali in Galilee, a mixed-population frontier Isaiah called "Galilee of the Gentiles," and He calls fishermen.

This is still the wrong-game question, just answered on the staffing side. If Jesus had been chasing the world's kingdoms, He'd have built a roster that could take them. He didn't. He picked ordinary dudes.

Not Pharisees. Not the credentialed, polished, or self-righteous. Peter was impulsive and loud. Andrew was a bit quieter. James and John were volatile enough that Jesus nicknamed them Boanerges, "Sons of Thunder" (Mark 3:17), and ambitious enough to ask for thrones later (Matt 20:20–28).

What Jesus does appreciate is the one thing they do right: they drop the nets and go.

Thank God He uses ordinary, broken guys. That means I'm available for His roster.

When He tells them He'll make them "fishers of men," He's not just working a tradesman's pun. Jeremiah 16:16 has God sending fishermen to gather His people. Ezekiel 47 pictures fishermen on the banks of the healed Dead Sea after the river flows out from the temple. Jesus is plugging these guys into a prophetic tradition of gathering. The first nets cast for Isaiah 9's great light.

The right roster, for the right game.

What Call Are You Making?

I have the honor of coaching 8U and 12U baseball. Kids this age are learning to throw, field, run the bases, and be good teammates. We work on fundamentals. We compete. We enjoy winning. There's nothing wrong with any of that.

But I try to keep the goal bigger than the scoreboard. Values. Leadership. Truth. A picture of what faithful competition looks like. We pray and do Bible studies. Baseball is great. Baseball is not ultimate. No game has an eternal impact by itself.

Kids make errors. They strike out. They drop fly balls. They miss signs. They stay on the team. On God's roster it's more secure than that. He chose us. We're going to sin. He doesn't cut us. Our mistakes are covered by the work of Jesus. Still loved. Still valued. Still called to grow.

So whether I'm reading about Jesus in the wilderness or standing on a baseball field with a lineup card, the same question keeps surfacing: what game am I trying to win? Quick results and easy approval? Or faithfulness to what lasts?

I made a ball call. It wasn't life-ending. My son will heal. There will be more games.

Don't make the wrong eternal call. "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). Mute the distractions. Sit in silence. Spend time with your Heavenly Father in prayer and Scripture. See what He wants to call you to.

We have plenty of good things to chase and win. Just make sure you don't win the wrong game.

Be careful of chasing the view at the summit, of eyeing the kingdoms and their glory. You can probably win them, but at what cost?

About the Author: Chad is an ordinary dude loved by God, saved by Jesus, and trying to live a faithful life. A blessed husband and dad.

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets — who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises... (Hebrews 11:32–34, ESV)

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