Our theme for the year is “Change what You Love.” And the originalidea behind the theme this year was to confront the idea that thethings we love are somehow fatalistically, genetically hardwired andtherefore impossible to change. Our love can change. And it’s achoice.

We all came in this morning with love that needs changing. And weemphasized three things.

It possible to change.You have control over that change.It’s the main thing God wants you to do with your life.

The great commandment is not a command to do anything. Youshall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.That’s a command to change what you love.

But how do we do that?

Well our current series, “Love the Commandment,” helps us answerthat question. Today is our last installment of this series of fivemessages.

We have been looking at this cycle that conversely either createsand strengthens love in our hearts or deconstructs and eliminateslove in our hearts.

The heart moves through this cycle and in each phase there arecommands that God gives us to obey. And when obeyed, it changesour love. Thus far we’ve looked at the first three quadrants.

Belief Predicts Fulfillment (Belief) -> You believe you’ll be happy ifyou are rich.Anticipated Fulfillment Drives Behavior (Pursuit) -> You find agood-paying job.Behavior Leads to Experience (Cultivation) -> You save and investand spend money. Cultivate wealth.

Today we’ll talk about the final quadrant of evaluation. Everyquadrant is important and contributes to the love changing process,but this quadrant, as you will see, is where the change actuallyhappens.

After we’ve believed something for a time, pursued it, and servedthat thing, it creates an experience. And there are seasons we all gothrough where we compare our current experience with what weoriginally believe.

Based on my experience, is this thing worthy of my continuedpursuit? That’s an important question! Sometimes our experiencesays, “Absolutely, keep going.” Other times, we say, “Mmm, thatprovided some level of enjoyment, but I can see where this is goingand I’m not so sure I think it’s worth it. Maybe there is somethingbetter?”

When we evaluate we open the possibility of being controlled bynew ideas:

Things are up for grabs. I could be right.But I might be wrong. I’m willing to be wrong. I’m willing to admitI’ve been barking up the wrong tree.I’m being open-minded. I’m willing to re-evaluate what has value

and what is worth following.

The experience that comes out of the belief/pursue/cultivationprocess is pretty important to think about.

But there is a major problem associated with that experience. It cansometimes mislead you. To illustrate, consider this image.

In the cartoon you have a couple guys digging. There’s a pile ofdiamonds off to the right. There’s the prize. There’s the object offulfillment.

The guy on top is clearly a guy who is in hot pursuit. He’s investingeverything he has. He’s submitted himself entirely to the process. Allof his eggs are in this basket.

Now the guy below was in the same condition but has somehowabandoned his pursuit. The question is, how did that happen?

That’s a really important question. How do we determine in life thatsomething is no longer worth pursuing?

Well at some point he evaluated and determined that it was nolonger worth it.

At some point, this guy reached a tipping point where he observed:

I’ve been digging for a long time and I’m really tired.Look at my hands, they are full of blisters.I only hit one or two tiny junk diamonds along the way. My bodyaches.

There are only two possibilities: either I have believed somethingwrong or I haven’t dug deep enough. And he concluded, I don’t thinkthis place even had diamonds. And his changed belief results in newactions.

Maybe you’ve known someone who once was all in with Christ andseemed to be really following him and then turned away. How doesthat happen? Answer: somewhere along the way he or shereevaluated.

Maybe you feel that way. Maybe you are still a follower of Christ butyou find yourself so much less motivated than you once were. Youseem to be following but at a distance. I mean you are digging butwith so little enthusiasm. So easily distracted. So half-hearted.

Maybe you are re-evaluating even now.

Now, there are commands in the Bible that God gives us when wefind ourselves in a season of evaluation, and particularly in a seasonwhere it seems like our experience doesn’t square with our belief.

God wants us to do something when we find ourselves in thisevaluation season.

Now I want to illustrate how these commands help us by looking atPeter. Because Peter underwent a major faith crisis where hebelieved, pursued, served and then tragedy struck. And thatexperience caused him to reevaluate nearly everything he believedto be true.

Now for the sake of today’s message we are going to lump all thesecommands under the heading of “Following.”

People follow politics, sports, or the stock market. If you arefollowing something, you believe it has value, so you pursue it andyou serve that thing. You give it your time, your money, your mentalenergy, etc…

Well, Peter followed Jesus. Let’s just trace the word ‘following’

through the life of Peter.

So here we have a command. Follow me. Now if you were Peter,why would you obey that? Well, you would have to believe that ifyou followed him, it would be rewarding. There’s an implied claim.Dig here and you will find gold. And all through Jesus’ ministry, he’sclaiming, “I am the diamond and gold mine.” All the I am statementsare value claims.

So these are the claims. Follow me and I will give you both what youwant and need. Follow me. Pursue me. Let me shape you. Let mecultivate your minds and souls so that you can receive happiness. Iam the way. These are the claims.

Peter, do you believe it? Well, you vote with your feet, don’t you?Peter drops his net and follows Jesus. He must believe it to somedegree.

In fact, Peter straight up says it. He nails the doctrinal statement. Doyou remember that time when Jesus asks his disciples, “Who dopeople say that I am?” Some say you are John the Baptist. Somesay you are Elijah. Some say Jeremiah or some other great prophet.Some say this. Some say that. Okay great. Now the real question.

Peter says, “Jesus, I believe you are the Messiah and that’s why Iam following you. I am serving you because you are therabbi/teacher.” Peter says, of course, I believe that you are theChrist. Jesus, I follow you because I believe that you are the path tolife.

Okay, that’s good.

Remember the diamond digger? Peter is digging for diamonds. Hebelieves in the claims. But here’s the million-dollar question. Whathappens when your hands get blisters? What happens when yourmuscles get sore? Will he keep digging? Will he keep following? Orwill he turn away?

It’s one thing for Peter to follow Jesus when he’s the most popularguy in town. Does Job follow you for nothing? It’s easy to be aPatriots fan when the Patriots are winning. The real test happenswhen Jesus isn’t so popular. Do you remember John chapter 6?

Street magicians draw crowds. This was right after the feeding of the5000. That was a pretty cool trick. So the crowds were electric. Doanother trick for us! Is Peter just one of these fair-weather fans?Well, in John chapter 6 we see the answer. Jesus teaches somereally hard things about the cost of discipleship. The crowds heardthose words and began to grumble. Jesus went from being reallypopular to not so much. They didn’t like the way that sounded andso many turned away and stopped following him.

It’s a bit of a chilling scene. There’s a lot that hangs on thatquestion. You can envision sadness in Jesus’ face. But Peter justnails this answer.

You can hear the confidence in Peter’s voice. Master, Rabbi, I follow

because I believe. I’m digging for diamonds, Master. I’m no fair-weather fan. A few blisters aren’t going to stop me, are you kidding?I believe you are Messiah promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,Moses, and David. Belief results in pursuit. Pursuit submits itself tothe cultivation process. I’m all in Jesus. Peter is convincing, even tohimself, just how committed he really is.

Do you remember the passage in Matthew 19 where Jesus rebukedthe rich young ruler and said, “Hey, if you want to enter into eternallife, you have to repent of your riches, you have to sell all that youhave, and you have to follow me.” Rich young man, you have beenserving money; you need to serve me. So give it up and come followme. Now the rich man went away sad because he wasn’t able to doit.

Peter, instantly compares himself, pride welling in his heart. I wasable to do it. I have left all I have. I gave up my career. I gave up myhome. Peter said to himself, “Dang, I’m good.”

Jesus, I believed you. I’ve pursued you. I’ve served you. What’s myreward for being so awesome?

Now you know where this is going, but let me ask you. Is this all aruse? Is this just a game. Is Peter totally just gaming things? No ofcourse not. Peter really believes that Jesus is the Messiah. Hereally, truly loves the Lord. Of course he does.

He really has discovered that Jesus is worthy. He really is followinghim. He really has given up everything. But Peter’s love andfollowing-commitment are weaker than he believes. A test will comethat will reveal the shallowness of his loyalty. A test will come thatwill show a veneer upon a very serious weakness.

Jesus, just days before his crucifixion, says to his disciples. Andeven the way he addresses them is so telling. Little children! I likethe way the Bible so tenderly and compassionately insults us:

He’s saying, Peter, you think you are following me, but you won’t beable to follow me. Here’s what he’s saying. He’s saying, Peter, youthink you love me, but you really don’t love me the way you thinkyou do. Peter, our actions always follow our love. You can’t followme because you don’t yet love me the way I love you.

Now, this had to have been so offensive to Peter. This was astraight-up attack on his pride. Peter has just got to be screaming inhis heart, “Yes I do! Let me prove it to you!” Surely Peter hadlistened over and over to Jesus’ words on the cost of being afollower of Christ. Jesus never made it easy to follow him. He didn’twant fickle followers. Peter surely had taken very seriously to heartJesus’ words,

I am certain that Peter had rehearsed his brave death for Jesusmany times. I am sure he was convincing himself at this moment ofhis loyalty. Yes, I love you Lord. Yes, I will follow you. I am willing todie for you! What do you mean I won’t be able to follow you? I’ll do

anything.

Oh man, that was probably so confusing, hurtful, and angering all inone. Peter could not possibly envision a scenario where he wouldstop following the Messiah. It’s just not possible. But it was oh-so-possible. Peter was confusing his love of self with love for the Lord.The feelings were being mixed together and indistinguishable in hisown heart. He was not sufficiently acquainted with his weaknessand fickleness. Weakness is never revealed until pressure isapplied.

Now what happens on that Thursday night is a scene ofunspeakable complexity and emotional trauma as the pressure isapplied to Peter’s weak love.

Peter watched his world fall apart piece by piece.

Peter watches as Jesus crumples like a blanket in weakness in the

Garden of Gethsemane. He’s never seen Jesus so weak, sodistraught and worried. He had always seen such confidence whenJesus was facing his enemies. Was Jesus actually worried? Washe actually conceding his own capture?Then the Romans come and confirm Peter’s worst nightmare. Now,remember the Bible says that a cohort of soldiers came to arrestJesus which was somewhere between 300-600 soldiers. There arehundreds of Roman soldiers behind the priest. Hundreds. AndPeter goes on the offensive. They come to arrest him and Peterbreaks out his sword to prove just how willing he is to die for Jesus.He swings wildly at the high priest’s servant and chops of his ear.This is some serious bravery. Peter was showing commitment.Jesus miraculously puts it back on tells Peter to take a chill pill.What? Then Jesus is led away by those soldiers. And all thedisciples flee for their lives. And Peter is standing there bewildered.Jesus, do something!

And you can imagine Peter’s thoughts. What is happening? Well,maybe Jesus is staging a giant reveal. Maybe he’s going to pull astunt in just a bit. Maybe he’s setting the stage to make his entranceas Messiah even more dramatic. So Peter slinks along. And the waythe Bible says it is so masterful.

Peter follows Jesus at a distance, of course physically, but what awindow into what is happening in his heart. Wow, what artful use oflanguage here. He’s following but now he’s not so sure. Hisconfidence is shaken. Now he’s not so sure he’s the way, the truth,and the life. So he’s following, but at a distance.

Now Messiah is getting flogged. He’s getting whipped and lashedwith bone and glass. Now I want you to think about that.Psychologically, what does that do to you to see your hero beingstrapped to a post and whipped and bloodied and beaten?

And then out comes this little slave girl and verbally undresses him.He’s not undone by the high priest. Not by a member of theSanhedrin. Not by the elite in society. He’s undone by a slave girl. Inthat society, respect came from being old, male, wealthy, and free.She was none of these things. Peter’s confident, rock-solid,impenetrable, undying love for Christ was exposed to be fragile andpaper-thin. His entire being was reduced to a puddle by a slave girl.

And of course, it was at that moment two things happened. Hecaught the eye of the beaten and bloodied Jesus from across thecourtyard and his ear caught the sound of the early morning rooster.

Now you can imagine the shame. Such terrible shame andembarrassment and mortification. How he must have replayed thosewords over and over in his mind. Disturbed, stomach-churning, sick,disgusted with himself, and hopeless.

Now there was a deep shame, but also deep examination. Peter wascast into this fourth quadrant, into this season of evaluation. Thebody was hung on a cross. It was taken off the cross, put in a grave.The grave was sealed and a Roman guard posted. Peter was forcedinto a moment of deep, deep evaluation.

This Jesus is not who I thought he was. Now let me show you apicture of Peter at this moment.

Peter’s whole life had been undone. Peter had left his nets to followJesus. He had invested his life savings. Peter had given Jesus allhis time. And it turned out to be all for nothing.

In the words of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, “We hadhoped that he would be the one to deliver Israel. But I guess wewere wrong because he’s been dead now for three days.”

Folks, this is the epitome of the evaluation phase. Peter’s wholeworldview was being upset and rocked and undone. He nowbelieved that it was all a waste. That all that digging was in vain. Andhe turned back.

Now here’s where the story gets really fun. What do you when youstop digging for diamonds? You go back to what you know.

Just that. The tender insult. That’s familiar. Speaking of familiar.

Now Peter is beside himself. Always wanting to prove his loyalty andcommitment he tosses himself entirely into the water. There was nota molecule of reluctance in Peter’s heart. Whatever it took to be nextto his Lord, the price was worth it. One hundred yards; one hundredmiles. He was going. And like an oversized labrador, he pants on thebanks of the sea of Galilee and embraces his Lord.

So they sit down and eat breakfast in amazement. Now comes themoment we have all been waiting for, this interchange betweenPeter and Jesus. His fickle love has been painfully put on display.Peter has been dressed down and he’s been shown to be such atalker.

Almost everybody agrees that Jesus’ reference to “these” in verse15 is a reference to the other disciples. In other words, “Simon, sonof John, do you love me more than these other disciples love me?”Peter is probably slightly perplexed by this question. “Why wouldyou ask this Lord, you know I love you? Of course. Lord, did you notsee that I just jumped out of a boat in the cold early morning waterjust so that I could be with you 10 seconds earlier? None of theother guys did that. I don’t just jump into the water for everyone. Ofcourse I love you.” But the question probably did not sit well. Whywould Jesus try and compare my love to the other disciples’ love forHim?

So I think at this, Peter probably said to himself, you bet Lord, I willfeed your lambs. The text does not say how much time went bybetween these statements, maybe a minute or two. Then:

A second question, exactly the same. Okay, Jesus is making apoint. And now Peter is starting to feel like his words are lackingmeaning. Had he not said before that he loved the Lord? Lord, ifeveryone else abandons you, I will die for you. I love you Lord. ButJesus is still asking the question. I’m sure he could feel thehollowness of Peter’s words. Your words don’t mean very muchafter you’ve betrayed the one you claim to love. But he’s stuck.What’s he supposed to say?

I picture at this moment the smoke from the fire shifting and it’s apainful reminder. He remembers the fire from a few nights ago. Oh,how confidently he had boasted in his love and loyalty to the Lordand he denied him three times. Three times he had denied the Lordand now three times, the Lord asks him if he loves him. The lessonwas painfully burrowing its way into his soul. The wound had to bereopened to be cleaned. The Lord was lovingly holding up a mirrorand letting Peter see his frailty. Peter, you are only powerful whenyou are weak. You are only able to serve me when you beg for graceat my feet.

Such a good answer. Such a beautiful answer. This is where theLord wanted him. Broken. Unsure of his ability. Distrusting self.Doubting his motives. Weak. Vulnerable. Powerless. Tired of failure.But truly loving his Savior. This is where the Lord wanted him, but ittook reopening the wound to get him there.

And then comes, what I think, are the most powerful words in theentire narrative.

Wow, the first time Peter left his nets clear back in Matthew chapter4 he thought he knew what that meant. But wow, those words meansomething entirely new now, don’t they? And Peter turns back andhe starts to dig. And for the rest of his life, he digs and digs and digs.

Now we witnessed Peter in this season of evaluation as he basicallyfails. But what should he have done?

I want to go back to Mark chapter 8. This is the passage wherePeter’s great confession happens. Jesus asks, “Who do you saythat I am?” Peter says, “You are the Christ, the son of the livingGod.”

Do you remember what happens next? Three things happen in arow that are so incredibly significant. First, Jesus predicts his death.Peter just gets done with this great confession and here comes thewet blanket.

Jesus predicted that he would die. And he did so plainly. OkayPeter, listen. You believe I am the Messiah. Great. Listen to mecarefully. There is a period of evaluation ahead of you where you willquestion this, so I’m telling you in advance. But listen guys,remember, after three days, I will rise again.

So do you see what he’s doing? He’s giving them resources for theday of trouble. Now rather than use those resources, Peter arguesthe premise. Peter doesn’t like this idea of suffering and weaknessbut Jesus rebukes him.

Here’s the second thing that happens? This is crazy. Jesus warnsagainst denying Christ in a pressure situation. He’s saying, I’mgiving you resources so when that period of evaluation hits, you’ll beready.

What’s his point here? His point is: okay you believe me. Youbelieve I am Christ. Recall that to mind when trials come. Becausethey will come. And the suffering you are about to endure is worth it.

That’s a tall order. Man, I have to take up my cross and followChrist? I have to die? I mean, I believe that Jesus is the Christ, butdo I believe it enough to die for him? Here’s the third thing thathappens.

Do you see what he’s doing? There are all these resources availableto them when suffering thrusts them into a season of evaluation.

When your hero dies, that’s pretty discouraging. Who could blamethe disciples for reevaluating, unless of course what? Unless of

course, Jesus told them that after three days, he would rise from thedead! Do you see the point?

The Main Point

Now here’s the point of telling that story. This was all set-up so thatwe could understand what God wants us to do when we findourselves in a season of evaluation.

This season comes either in times of success or tragedy. If we areexperiencing success then we evaluate and say, “Wow, this is goinggreat, and it just reinforces our belief, strengthens our pursuit, andon we go.”

But in times of trial or tragedy, we evaluate and say, “Maybe I’mbarking up the wrong tree.”

Peter found himself in a season of evaluation and doubted. Heevaluated, doubted, and turned away. He forgot to look back to thepromises of God. He forgot to fix his eyes on the promise. God saidthis would happen. God said that he would rise from the dead. Yousee Peter was so convinced that suffering should not be part of theequation that he was undone when it happened.

No. Suffering is part of the equation. And so is doubt. Doubt willcome when we suffer. And in those seasons, God commands us todo certain things. It’s during these times that God gives uscommands to obey. And they are commands that help us to lookpast the blisters, past the temporary discomfort, and remind us thatthere is a reward if we continue to believe, pursue, and serve.

I want to give you some examples of these. You should not be

surprised that trials come upon you as if something strange ishappening. Peter was shocked. Don’t be like Peter. Instead, look towhat God has promised he is going to do through trials.

Look at what God does through trials. But also look past the pain tothe outcome. Do you see that? In trials, we tell ourselves, “Maybe allthis digging isn’t worth it. No! It is worth it!”"

These blisters hurt. I don’t think there are any diamonds here.

Oh, I’m sweaty, my back hurts, and this is just a colossal waste oftime. What caused you to start digging in the first place? You had anabsolutely sure source. You, for very good reason, were convinced.

That reason hasn’t changed. Your guide told you that it would behard and there would be trials and blisters. So don’t give up. That’sexactly what you should expect. Keep digging. The prize is there.

What these commands do is strengthen our hands. They steady usagainst things that would potentially rock us.

I think the most encouraging thing is that even if you have failed anddoubted the Lord, none of it is a waste. Jesus says, to Peter, followme. And what does he do? He’s already dug this giant hole. So hejust turns around and picks up where he left off. He just keepsdigging.

Practical

One of the main points to be made as it relates to this cycle is thatthis cycle is always happening. And there’s a passive and activeway in which the cycle happens. If you do nothing, the cycle ishappening.

You will believe things that are handed to you.You will pursue the things that are easy and sound fun.You will be shaped by the cultural forces that are all around you.And you will evaluate life based on how you have been shaped.

And the scary thing is that it will all be wrong. You will end up lovingthe world.

Let me just make this super practical. Are you following the Lord?Are you obeying the commands to believe, seek, serve commands?

Do you read your Bible every day? Do you have a plan to read yourBible? If you don’t, how can you possibly even know what to

believe? The entire Christian faith comes out of this book. Nowhereelse. Our entire faith assumes this is the source of truth and that allthings believed must come from this book. If you aren’t reading it,then without question you will default to believing other things thatare not true.Do you pray every day? One of the main ways we pursue God isthrough prayer. It’s the main way we seek him. If you believe this istrue then you will seek the God who wrote it.Do you serve him? People have a thousand reasons why they don’tserve in the church and none of them are good ones.Don’t you realize that service to God is not because he needs you,but because he wants to shape you? By serving in the church, youwill be molded into the right shape to be an effective tool in hishands.For me, you want to know the things that have helped me the verymost to be an effective minister of the gospel? Sure, going toseminary was great. Bible school was great. Israel was great. Butthe thing that has helped me the very most is to talk with realpeople. To walk with real people through suffering. To have to workthrough differing perspectives.When you suffer or succeed, what are you remembering?The cross quadrants are designed to help one another!The wheel works in community!