Last week my 15 year-old son beat me in ping pong. Ping pong is serious business in my house. We play it a lot. For clarity, I didn’t let him win. That used to happen when he was eight, but not any more. I like to win too much to let him have it. But last Saturday he grabbed the trophy in the Quitt house—full bragging rights for a month. This is no small thing. About 5 times a day he’ll remind me, “Dad, I’m better than you! Dad, I beat you. Dad, you’re old.” At breakfast, in the middle of a devotion, while he’s on the toilet…pretty much everywhere he puts his prize on display. “I won and you lost!”
Don’t worry, I’m OK. At this point in my life I don’t lose any sleep over a table tennis match that went south. Truth be told though, I’m a sore loser in about everything else. I’ve had to ask myself, why is my soul still trained to think that winning in this world is what matters?This is no small confession. I want to be first in everything. Really. I want to put my trophy of accomplishments on display for all to see. I want the accolades and “atta boys”. I want the big church and book deal and the interviews. My flesh wants those things. I think to myself that when I get everything I’ve dreamed of I will humbly defer to God and His glory, and say something super spiritual like, “No, no! It was the Lord!”. But inside I will be drinking up the praise like a thirsty dog. I like being a winner.
The problem with this line of thinking is this: Jesus likes Losers. That’s not to say he dislikes winners. But Jesus seems to have an affinity to those that come in last. He even teaches strange things like, “Blessed are the poor…blessed are the meek…blessed are those who are persecuted…blessed are those who are insulted…” All losers–everyone of them! It appears that in Jesus’ economy it’s the losers who get the trophy.
So for those who are like me and want the trophy, we have to lose. Losing means letting Jesus win…in everything. He gets every point and all the credit. He is the one who is on display for all to see. He gets our dreams, our hopes, our plans and in his divine wisdom He doles out what we need.
So all you Winner-Wanna-Be’s, say it with me:
I don’t have to win!
Trophies be damned!
If I have to choose between something important or something BIG, I choose important.
