10/23/20 By Larry Barker
Growing up in a very military family meant living on bases here in the states and in the Philippines. There were three things as a dependent you could always count on; a place to show movies, a place to roller skate, and a place to bowl. Sometimes, they were even combined into one location when stationed on smaller remote bases and we watched movies sitting on the floor where we also would roller skate. Larger bases had very nice facilities for all three and we spent many evenings watching our parents bowl in different leagues.
You do not have to be an expert bowler to understand what a gutter ball is. On each side of the lane there is a literal “gutter” where if your ball drops off it cannot hit any pins. The risk was even greater for those who threw very hard curve balls that could hang over the edge looking like they would fall off at any second then suddenly shoot back to the middle of the lane for a potential strike. Through the years I have seen all types of bowlers from potentially being professional to awful and quite funny to watch.
The devil loves to get us in one gutter or the other. A friend of mine said, “It just seems that most Christians end up in one ditch or the other and no one wants to drive up in the middle of the road!” The music is too old or the music is too modern. The dress is too casual or the dress is too formal. The preaching is too long or the preaching is too short. (Actually I have not heard that one but wondered if you were paying attention.) The people are too legalistic or they promote personal liberty too much. They practice grace without truth or they practice truth without grace.
Before Jesus began His ministry He fasted for 40 days and then the Bible says in Matthew 4:3 that the tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” He tempted Him in the area of His appetite. Jesus answered Him using the Word of God that man does not live by bread alone. It is very easy to throw a gutter ball here when we think it is totally up to us to provide everything we need for ourselves or for our ministry. Actually, we are dependent upon Him and His provision.
One gutter ball in the area of appetite is gluttony where we lack any control in our lives. We feast upon all that is offered and approach our churches with a buffet mentality that more is always better. The other gutter ball is anorexia where we have such an aversion to food that we get weaker and weaker and slowly but surely begin to die. There are too many verbs of personal responsibility in the scriptures for us to take pride in how Godly we are because we are trusting in God alone to build His church while we sit idly by.
The next temptation was in the area of ambition when the tempter encouraged Jesus to throw Himself off the pinnacle of the temple. Satan wanted Jesus to prove that He truly as the Son of God. How often are we so driven to be the best and show others that we the secret formula to church growth? Left unchecked this gutter ball begins to justify the end (attendance) by any means necessary. We have a desire to “win” at any cost and are willing to cut corners to get ahead.
The gutter ball of ambition turns us into workaholics because reaching our goals is what drives us and that depends on how hard we work. It really is sad how humanistic we have become in our approach to ministry in believing that we can do it ourselves. Jesus said, “Without me you can do nothing.” The other gutter ball is being lazy and lethargic. We are Jesus co-laborers and there is work to be done. Do not allow apathy to rule and give you a defeatist approach in your ministry. Check out I Corinthians 15:58 because we do not labor in vain.
The last temptation in Matthew 4 was to bow down and worship the tempter. Satan was asking Jesus to become the Messiah everyone wanted Him to be. Seeking the approval of man over the approval of God is a very serious gutter ball. The need for affirmation and being liked is a trap that can consume you. Always looking for the pat on the back, or the recognition for what you have accomplished, can be very dangerous because God resists the proud.
This gutter ball of approval, on one side, leads us to where we are easily corrupted by applause. You were not created to be worshiped and if you always seek and desire other people’s approval it can eventually cause you to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think. The other gutter ball is adopting an “I just don’t care” mentality. We should care about what others think about our testimony while following Christ. If not, you will be crushed by criticism.
The tempter is very crafty and because of our sin nature we easily gravitate towards one gutter or the other. In the area of appetite we either desire it all or we want none of it. In the area of ambition we are tempted to do anything and everything or we adopt a very defeatist attitude. Seeking too much approval can easily corrupt us or it will crush us. Psalm 127:1, “Unless the Lord builds a house, its builders labor over it in vain.”