Losers Are Winners
“And the first prize goes to…” Every first place winner owes their win to the second place contestant. If he or she had not done worse than the winner, the winner would not have won. Winners need losers. Losers are important people. Without losers, we would have no winners. Losers are the shoulders winners ride on. Everybody who wins should thank their lucky stars that somebody did so badly.
Have you ever been called a “loser”? It hurts. “Looozzer!” Everybody wants to win. Someone once asked my brother what he liked to do in his spare time. He said, “I like to win.” So often our personal best is not enough. It doesn’t matter if we did all we could, it just seems to matter who did worse. There is something in us constantly comparing ourselves to others. That’s why the Guiness’ Book of World Records exists. You have some people that are no good at the regular contests, so they have to make up a weird one to be the best at. There is actually an award for the largest naval fluff collection.
He must increase, I must decrease. He must become greater, I must become less. This is the thought John the Baptist had when confronted with the popularity of Jesus. Not only the popularity, but the success of Jesus. He was baptizing more people than John and John’s disciples appeared to be threatened by this. But John was not threatened. In essence, he replied, “I am still too much. Jesus needs to be more.” At the heart, John is saying, “I have to shrink from view, I have to be less successful, I have to lose more.” John wanted to be a better loser.
We talk about glorifying God but I wonder how often we watch out for competing glories. Our glory gets in the way of the Lord’s. Or maybe we think our glory is necessary for making God look good. Jesus said, “Let your good works so shine before men that they glorify your Father in Heaven.” Well, that isn’t referring to the degree of illumination your works emit. Jesus is talking about the nature of the illumination itself, with that word “so”. You have to back up to one of his illustrations to get the full picture. He talks about a lamp-stand propping up the light, instead of a bowl on top of it. He links the lamp-stand with the works. The light is Christ. We are to hold him up for the world to see. We are to be holders (and beholders) of the light. Do you prop up Christ? Do I prop up Christ? Or are we busy climbing the shoulders of losers?
This can be a hard thing to see in your life, because we are so prone to seeking praise. But start today. We all actively promote ourselves. Sometimes our résumé is a little too handy. Put it away. Let Christ win. Take second place – take last place. May his interests and his endeavours be ours: His Church, his Word, his Name, his Glory… Christ’s is the only opinion that matters anyway. And he doesn’t miss a thing. Even when your right hand is unaware of what your left is doing, Jesus knows. When he says to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant” may there be many secrets between you. Be anonymous in your giving and generous with your prayers.
And stop collecting naval fluff.
BJ
Have you ever been called a “loser”? It hurts. “Looozzer!” Everybody wants to win. Someone once asked my brother what he liked to do in his spare time. He said, “I like to win.” So often our personal best is not enough. It doesn’t matter if we did all we could, it just seems to matter who did worse. There is something in us constantly comparing ourselves to others. That’s why the Guiness’ Book of World Records exists. You have some people that are no good at the regular contests, so they have to make up a weird one to be the best at. There is actually an award for the largest naval fluff collection.
He must increase, I must decrease. He must become greater, I must become less. This is the thought John the Baptist had when confronted with the popularity of Jesus. Not only the popularity, but the success of Jesus. He was baptizing more people than John and John’s disciples appeared to be threatened by this. But John was not threatened. In essence, he replied, “I am still too much. Jesus needs to be more.” At the heart, John is saying, “I have to shrink from view, I have to be less successful, I have to lose more.” John wanted to be a better loser.
We talk about glorifying God but I wonder how often we watch out for competing glories. Our glory gets in the way of the Lord’s. Or maybe we think our glory is necessary for making God look good. Jesus said, “Let your good works so shine before men that they glorify your Father in Heaven.” Well, that isn’t referring to the degree of illumination your works emit. Jesus is talking about the nature of the illumination itself, with that word “so”. You have to back up to one of his illustrations to get the full picture. He talks about a lamp-stand propping up the light, instead of a bowl on top of it. He links the lamp-stand with the works. The light is Christ. We are to hold him up for the world to see. We are to be holders (and beholders) of the light. Do you prop up Christ? Do I prop up Christ? Or are we busy climbing the shoulders of losers?
This can be a hard thing to see in your life, because we are so prone to seeking praise. But start today. We all actively promote ourselves. Sometimes our résumé is a little too handy. Put it away. Let Christ win. Take second place – take last place. May his interests and his endeavours be ours: His Church, his Word, his Name, his Glory… Christ’s is the only opinion that matters anyway. And he doesn’t miss a thing. Even when your right hand is unaware of what your left is doing, Jesus knows. When he says to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant” may there be many secrets between you. Be anonymous in your giving and generous with your prayers.
And stop collecting naval fluff.
BJ
posted by BJ at 3:53 p.m.
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