The Games People Play

The Games People Play

Matthew 23:27-28

Oh the games people play now

Every night and every day now

Never meaning what they say now

Never saying what they mean

            Some of us may remember these lyrics by Joe South.  There’s a bitterness to this song, and there are good reasons for it.  Some verses are about relationships between two people.  Some deal with people so removed from reality they don’t understand the pain they cause.  Some talk about religion games—and it’s those verses we’ll concentrate on.

            Games have rules.  If one of the players establishes the rules, that person has a far greater chance of winning than anyone else in the game.  Sometimes the rules are known.  Sometimes only the “lead player”—the one who made up the rules—knows what they are.  It’s up to the other players to figure them out.  By the time this happens it’s often too late.  The players who don’t know the rules are so far behind they can’t catch up.  Sometimes the rules are so stacked in favor of the lead player that even if they are known the other players don’t have a chance.  These situations happen far too often in relationships.

            Many of us have had bosses or co-workers who are game players.  Some of us know families that thrive on game playing.  We may even have been part of such families.  Many times multiple games are being played at the same time, with each person being the lead player in his/her game, using his/her rules to punish the other players.

            Game playing occurs anytime someone (or some ones) choose to disguise his/her real personality or purpose in order to gain an advantage over someone (or ones) else.  Most of us have encountered enough of this behavior to recognize it quickly.  If so, and if possible, we stop playing the game by extricating ourselves from the situation.  Oftentimes we can’t.  The lead player is in such complete control, or we are so involved in the situation, that we can’t get out.

            This was the case in first century Judea.  The religious leaders were the lead players.  Over the years (centuries, actually) they had established the rules.  Since they were also the referees, there was no way the other players could win.  They couldn’t even break even.

            Then Jesus came.  Not only was he not a game player, he also outranked the referees.  They just hadn’t figured that out yet.  But many of the other players had.  They were looking for a way to end the game, and saw their escape in Jesus’ teachings.  They saw in Jesus a way to break even or possibly end the game.

            In teaching after teaching and parable after parable Jesus showed the endgame.  Sometimes he posited a world order where games wouldn’t be played at all, where people would be straightforward and honest, matching what they said with what they believed, and creating a level playing field.  Other times, such as in Matthew 23:27-28, Jesus condemned the lead players and called them what they were—hypocrites. 

People walking up to ya

Singing glory hallelujah

And they’re trying to sock it to ya

In the name of the Lord

            “No more one-sided games,” Jesus says.  “Let’s change the rules.  Those on the bottom will move to the top, and the lead players will go to the penalty box.  If you want to be part of my kingdom you have to agree to play by my rules.  God is the referee, and God says for all of us to work together on an equalized playing field, where cooperation—not competition—is the rule.” 

God sends the same message today.  Are we listening?  Or are we too busy playing?