The spiritual red zone

I’ve never watched so much football in my life! 

Last weekend my husband, Jim, and I decided to have a football weekend. We love the game of football and had a great time watching teams play at their highest levels because the entire season was on the line. 

Sadly, we gave up on the Saturday night game too soon! 

We had church in the morning and decided Trevor Lawrence was just having a bad night. He was down 27–0 at halftime and we just went to bed. When we woke up the next morning, we heard the reporters talking about the third-greatest comeback in playoff history! 

Trevor had played an almost-perfect second half and led his team to a 31–30 victory. The next morning, he got a standing ovation when he went to the Waffle House for breakfast! He is a good guy, and I’m glad his team is still in the running.

Jim was preaching Sunday morning and used an illustration that prompted the title for this blog post. Most of us who attend our chapel service are somewhere around our age. Jim used a PowerPoint slide with a picture of a football field and told us to judge our age as progress down the field. 

Most of us had passed the twenty-yard line and realized we are headed for the end zone! 

After church, I made a joke and said, “So, what you are saying is that you and I are in the Red Zone.” 

What is the spiritual red zone?

For those who might not watch football, the red zone is considered the part of the field between the twenty-yard line and the goal line. It is the part of the field where games are won or lost. 

It occurred to me that, in many ways, this season of my life is like the spiritual red zone. 

I want to win this game, don’t you? 

One of the games we watched was the Giants/Vikings game. The Giants won largely because of their talented quarterback and another player named Saquon Barkley. One of the best moments of that game occurred in the red zone. 

The Giants were lined up with only a couple of yards to go, the ball was snapped and handed off to Saquon, who literally ran hard, shoved, and carried a bunch of huge defenders into the end zone, scoring the TD. Jim told me Barkley is one of the strongest players in the NFL. I believe it! 

So, what should life in the spiritual red zone look like? 

The answer: a LOT like that Saquon Barkley goal-line play! 

His touchdown effort had help from a strong team, but, truthfully, it was his enormous strength that helped him cross the goal line with success.  

The purpose of life is to cross our goal line successfully. Death is guaranteed at the end of our lives. Salvation has been guaranteed at the end of our lives as well if we are Christians. John 5:24 is a promise from Christ. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”  

Some touchdowns this weekend were achieved more easily as the player caught a pass and ran over the goal line. Others, like Saquon’s TD, were a battle won with great strength. There is no way to know which of those scenarios will mark the finish of our lives. 

But, we are called to be strong and ready to cross the goal line, no matter what play the Lord calls. Philippians 4:13 reminds us that we “can do all things through him who strengthens” us.  

We have been given everything we need to compete in a spiritual Super Bowl if we will just play the game plan the Holy Spirit has laid out.  

Most of us are in the playoff season of our lives. Are we playing at the top of our game? 

Which team should we be playing for?

I’m a Cowboys fan, often reluctantly. Thankfully, Monday night they played a great game and they are still in the race! The team has a LOT of ability, but sometimes they don’t seem to have the heart or motivation to play their best game. 

Sadly, that describes a lot of Christians too. 

Those who know Scripture know they are guaranteed a win simply because of their salvation. 

But shouldn’t it matter how we play the game too? 

Romans 12:2 gives good advice for this game we call life. Paul wrote, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”  

God has a game plan, a will for each of our lives. Success is playing on God’s team and following his plan instead of thinking our own plans will provide a better way to win. 

Are you in the spiritual red zone?

That question isn’t meant to be a sobering thought about your age! Instead, it should be a rewarding thought that says, “I’m in the game.” 

Consider it this way: If you are a Christian, you are going to win the game, and there is going to be a GREAT celebration after the clock runs out. There is going to be a trophy handed out as well. 

It is ALL good! 

But, keep in mind that there will be “stats” to consider at the end of the game. The team wins, but only some will have played in the game. The team gets a trophy, but some get an MVP award. I guess what I am saying to all of us today is that we should want to get off the bench and play in the game! 

Yes, you will probably take some hits on the field. Yes, you might drop a few passes or trip along the way. ALL good players have stats that include both successes and failures. But, that’s because they were in the game! 

My thought today is that all of us should take a moment to consider our personal stats. Our team is in the red zone, but are you on the field or cheering from the sideline? 

How do you get into the game?

Paul gives that answer in Philippians 4:8–9: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” 

The players who are able to play the game are the players who showed up for practice and participated in the workout so they could accomplish what they learned. 

If you have been sidelined, get back to playing the game. It’s a lot more fun to celebrate in the end zone after the battle than to just be included in the locker-room celebration at the end of the game. Christians are on the winning team, but why not shoot for one of those MVP awards at the end of the game?  

There are two more football weekends and then the Super Bowl. I’m hoping to root for the Cowboys but expect that I’ll be rooting for the Kansas City Chiefs on Super Bowl Sunday. 

In the end, winning is mostly about character and strength. We will see who has that in the red zone,  and we will see who goes to the Super Bowl this year. 

Finally . . .

Statistically, I’m in the red zone of life. Where are you?  

Spiritually, I’d like to be on the field and ready to run a game-winning play!  

Are you in the game? 

If so, stay strong because you will take some hits. 

If not, get back to the practices of your faith and you will soon be called off the bench and onto the field! 

The Holy Spirit has an affinity for those who are strong and ready to follow God’s game plan. 

Let’s all play in such a way that we are an important part of the win! 

Let the dogma live loudly in you

I watched a lot of the confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett. 

Whatever a person might believe about the politics, it isn’t difficult to believe in the person. I often say that “the loudest sermon a person will ever preach is heard through his or her life.” 

Last week during the confirmation hearings, the world witnessed the presence and power of Christ in a person’s life. 

What I found most interesting was the fact that many people were concerned about her convictions rather than impressed by them. Amy Coney Barrett is unashamedly Christian, and people continuously said they found her convictions troubling. 

If I were Judge Barrett, I would have been reminded often of Jesus’ words to his disciples: “‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours” (John 15:20). 

You can be confident 

The entire world knew that Judge Barrett would field a lot of questions because of her faith. No one was surprised when she was hammered with questions about abortion, same-sex marriage, and other hot-button issues. 

I wonder when being a person of great faith became something people considered a weakness in our culture. 

If you are like me, you tend to focus on the part of John 15:20 when Jesus said, “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” Christians know that some persecution for our faith is to be expected. We like a little bit of trouble because it reassures us that we are walking in the example of Christ. 

But, the statement that follows is equally important to our faith. 

In fact, persecution might not have been the most significant point Jesus was making. Jesus told his disciples, “If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.” That statement shouts and illustrates God’s plan for our lives. 

We expect to be persecuted for our Christian witness because Jesus promised persecution. We have heard a lot of sermons about how to handle persecution in ways that honor Christ. But, do we also expect people to be saved and to keep God’s laws because of our witness? 

Jesus said, “If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.” 

Are we as confident in Jesus’ promise of a successful witness as we are of our promised persecution? 

I hope Judge Barrett hears from a lot of people who tell her they were strengthened in their faith because they watched her faith at work during the hearings. 

Our friendship with Christ 

Sometimes we forget that Jesus called his disciples “friends.” Jesus told them, “You are my friends if you do what I command you” (John 15:14). Judge Barrett has been in church her entire life and was raised in the faith. Jesus has been her friend for a long time. 

I think Jesus sat at the table with his friend during her days of questioning. She just functioned with a strength that was more than her own. Judge Barrett drew comfort from the presence of her family behind her, but I think she drew strength from her friendship with Christ. 

Are you more comfortable thinking of yourselves as a servant rather than a “friend” of Christ? 

Jesus said, “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15). Jesus told his disciples: when you know what I would do and do it, you have befriended me. 

I had a new thought with this familiar passage. Servants serve because it is their job and they are required to work at whatever the master might request. Consider the phone call from the boss who asks you to get something done for him. Now, compare those words to the phone call from a friend who says, “I need your help.” 

Jesus has befriended us. 

We are to serve Christ with the same attitude we would serve our best friends.

When is a perfect friendship with Christ possible? 

I don’t imagine very many of us would be able to match the intellectual abilities of Judge Barrett. She is unequivocally brilliant. 

On the other hand, any of us who have received the Holy Spirit of Christ have been filled with the exact same nature we saw displayed during those long days of questioning. 

I wanted to write about that because I believe one of the greatest problems we have in the church today is that God’s people limit what the Lord can do in and through their lives. 

You might not be able to match the judge’s intellect, but you do have the ability to be an excellent friend of Christ. Anything the Holy Spirit accomplishes through your life is perfection. The Holy Spirit isn’t able to be less than perfect—ever. 

Have you limited your life to what you are capable of or do you accomplish what Jesus is able to do through you? 

Does the dogma live loudly in you? 

Senator Dianne Feinstein was quoted often this week. She was part of the Senate confirmation hearing when Judge Barrett was nominated for a position on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. At the hearing, Sen. Feinstein said, “I think in your case, professor, when you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you.” 

Dogma is defined as “a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true.” Judge Amy Coney Barrett believes that God’s word has authority in her life and that bothers a lot of people. Interestingly, all of the persecution she will endure for her beliefs will also lead people to consider the existence and authority of God. 

I want that “dogma” to live loudly in me as well. 

I carefully watched Senator Feinstein question Judge Barrett. They are very different women in their beliefs, but I can honestly say that I saw mutual respect. It will be interesting to see if Senator Feinstein votes her heart or her politics. I hopefully expect the first possibility from her. 

“Integrity, dignity, and sound speech” 

The apostle Paul told Titus, “Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us” (Titus 2:7–8). Paul called Titus, a Gentile convert of Christ, his “true child in a common faith” (Titus 1:4). 

How many people will discover faith in Christ because the “dogma” lives loudly in the life of Amy Coney Barrett? 

How many will enter heaven because we allow the word of God to dwell abundantly and “loudly” in our lives? 

Those words aren’t slanderous when they are true. The dogma lives loudly in a person who chooses friendship with Christ. 

Embrace the friendship. 

If we keep God’s word, if the dogma lives loudly in us, others will follow that word too. 

Jesus promised. 

P.S. Have you signed up for my bible study, Foundations of Faith, yet? It’s not too late, we just released lesson 6!

Visit https://www.janetdenisonbiblestudy.com/ to sign up for this study, if you’ve already signed up you can login and access the newest video too.