The movie “Rudy” is familiar to many — the story of a young man who wasn’t especially large or talented but dreamed of playing football for Notre Dame.
As Rudy fought his way into the school and onto the practice team, his dad repeatedly told him he would never be able to play for the Fighting Irish.
“Rudy’s dad is a professional dream squasher,” said Ben Mandrell, newly elected president of LifeWay Christian Resources (see story), who spoke June 10 at the Southern Baptist Convention Pastors Conference in Birmingham.
But when Rudy’s dad finally walks into the stadium on the day Rudy will run out with the team, his first words are one of Mandrell’s favorite moments in film history. The cynical father takes in the view and says, “This is the most beautiful sight these eyes have ever seen.”
“One of the gifts God has given us is the ability to see,” Mandrell said. “We make bucket lists of things we want to see.”
Pure in heart
Reading from Matthew 5:8 he said the pure in heart are blessed for an incredible reason — they will get to see God.
“If you get your heart right you get a Rudy’s dad moment,” Mandrell said. “There’s nothing you should desire more than to see Him.”
So how do you do that? Mandrell said it’s vital you purify and guard your heart.
“Jesus said provocative things like if you’re looking at a woman lustfully you’re already committing [adultery] in your heart. It’s what happens … in your heart that is a wretched abomination to God,” he said.
He named three heart killers for pastors:
1. Secretly pining for power.
“Our hearts are plagued with envy,” Mandrell said, noting that social media only makes that problem worse.
Pining for power “is a constant temptation in a connected world,” he said, adding pastors should invest their lives in doing what is right in front of them. “Whatever God has called you to do, do it with all your might.”
2. Entertaining the thought of adultery.
“Let’s just be really honest about this temptation shall we? We all secretly think we’re immune to this,” Mandrell said. “Because we believe that we don’t keep our guard up.”
He recounted the steps that lead to adultery as outlined in family resources by author and pastor Tommy Nelson:
- Eliminate intimacy from your marriage.
- Encounter a woman you admire and enjoy that relationship.
- Expedite the relationship and express feelings.
- Experience infidelity.
3. Spilling negativity at home.
Mandrell told the story of a pastor whose son had grown up and grown bitter toward the church.
“That pastor said, ‘I can’t tell you exactly why my boy walked away from the church but this I do know — my wife and I would often speak ill of the saints in the kitchen and my son, his heart began to turn,’” he said.
Watching his dad daily destroy the people he carried out ministry with changed the son, Mandrell said.
“We have to guard the hearts of the next generation of church leaders and the way we do that is show self-control in the way we process those emotions with our spouses.”
To watch the full sermon visit sbcpc.net.
Share with others: