Our world creates images of winners and losers. Is this a place where the faith invites us to be different? Is this a place where Jesus offers an alternative view of life?
Losers. At some point in life, we have all held the letter "L" over the forehead with our hands. Some of us have even mumbled (hopefully under our breath) "Loser!" Some define losers as those without a job or can't keep a job or someone who has been married more than once. Others would say that a loser is a person always needing help. Everyone knows losers in sports as the score is always visible. There are no meaner people in the world as the fans of the team who is losing. Losing, in our world, sucks.
Winners! Everyone wants to be near a winner. Winners have more friends than foes. If you win, you get more! Winning places you in a special section of world politics and media. Winners are on the front cover of the paper and magazines. Winners, even if by luck, are defined as success.
Then Jesus says something like this to his followers, "those who want to win their life must lose their life." You can almost hear the gasp of Peter as he says this. Peter, Jesus' spin doctor, rushes to Jesus and tells him this is not what he wants to say to attract people to the movement.
Jesus gives us a definition of life that is counter intuitive. To win you must lose. To gain you must give away. Suffering gives wellness. Sacrifice is gain. To really live is to die. Love your enemies. Bless those who persecute you. Turn the other cheek. Forgive seventy times seventy.
From this view of life, people are seen through a different lens. The winners in this view are those who work for justice and feed the poor. The winners are those who live a humble life of service to the larger world—the kingdom of God. Winning is even defined by the cross—a sacrificial love—that will do whatever it takes to allow all of the world to know God's love.
Be careful what your first response is to the losers as the world defines them, you may lose more than you realize. Define winning or success as Jesus would.
Pray for me as I pray for you
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