WINNERS AND LOSERS

 

Oran Rhodes

 

            You probably have heard any number of quotes concerning winning and losing, such as: “Everyone loves a winner; no one wants to be a loser”; or “Nice guys finish last”; or “It matters not whether you win or lose--- but how you play the game” which is followed by “But of course that’s only accepted by losers.” What fosters that kind of thinking? Winners are thought of as achievers while losers are seen as failures. Winners are thought of as superior in their training or their skills. Losers are thought of as not having what it takes, or else they are unwilling to put out what is necessary to win. At the end of the day the prize and the accolades go to the winner while the losers are generally ignored or even ridiculed. In that environment some hate to lose so bad that they will do just about anything , including being willing to cheat, in order to win. But did you know that there are some things in which it is necessary to be a loser to be enabled to receive what is really important?

            The apostle Paul states in Philippians 3:8: “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. “With that in mind, then, there are some things in which we must be losers! Please consider that in order to gain salvation, we must lose our sins.

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Heb. 12:1). For some of us to run a true race, we would need to rid ourselves of weight. In the Christian race, we cannot run it successfully until we rid ourselves of the burden of sin.

            We must lose our selfishness if we can then see the greater goal and the true victory. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:15-17). We must lose ourselves in His cause if we are to be victorious. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).

            In connection with that, we must lose any idea of self-sufficiency. On the one hand is the kind of weakness necessary to depend on the strength of the Lord as Paul speaks of in 2 Corinthians 12:10: “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”  On the other hand is the confidence gained by the recognized dependence upon Christ. “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil. 4:13). Finally, we must lose ourselves in our love for Him. “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matt. 22:37).

            A marathon runner a few years ago decided to take an alternate route. Consider the consequences of his action. He did not win. He was disqualified for violating the rules and he was barred from any further participation. Christianity is not a matter of winning or losing; it is the finishing the marathon of life according to God’s rules. There are no short cuts, nor alternate routes. The consequences of failing to abide in the route laid out and the result of not finishing the course because of the lack of training or preparation are severe. The victor’s crown, on the other hand, is worth losing everything necessary in order to finish the race. “… be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Rev. 2:10).