Nobody wants to lose.

Across almost every culture, losing brings infamy. In our sports dominated American culture, the teams and players who lose frequently are embarrassingly mocked and quickly become the butt of jokes to the fans of opposing teams delight. Think the Cleveland Browns.

We see losing as a result of weakness, lack of preparation and poor execution. Losing has become so unpopular in our culture that we are trying to eliminate it all together. It has become easier to hand everyone a trophy just for showing up instead of identifying one team as a winner and by default, the defeat of their opponents, no matter how close or lopsided the defeat.

A loss means forfeiting what was or could have been. If you have a share in a company that goes bankrupt, the value of that share has dried up. The original investment is gone. A share in a company that no longer exists isn’t worth anything.

We are taught by society to minimize our losses at all costs. Losing is the worst-case scenario.

This isn’t what the Bible teaches us about reality. Losing is demanded by those who call themselves Christ-followers. The loss of anything that leads us away from source of life, Jesus Christ, is not considered a loss but great gain.

As the Apostle Paul so enthusiastically says in his letter to the Philippians:

“I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (3:8-9)

If we’re talking wins and losses here, clearly Paul sees only one path to victory. That is knowing Jesus. All else, including his impressive list of accomplishments as a Jew which he states in verses 4-6, amounts to nothing. He goes as far to compare them to skubalon in the Greek or literally, animal dung.

As we traverse the earth looking for where to place our trust, we naturally accumulate more options. Money, relationships, or even our own “goodness” act as our measuring stick of winning or losing. Nobody wants to lose at life, so of course we buy in and sign on for whatever might improve our chances of “winning.”

During Jesus’ time on earth, he frequently challenges his followers. One particular challenge he gave them was to lose.

“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their soul?” (Luke 9:24-25)

Jesus cuts straight through to the root of the issue by asking his disciples and ultimately all of us this question. Is there any point in gaining a bunch of things that will prove meaningless and while doing so forfeiting your own soul? Surely, the logical answer is no. The troubling truth is that many of us live believing the answer is yes, placing our confidence in for lack of a better word, crap.

Then, there is the belief that just like a bad investment, believing in Jesus and surrendering one’s life to him doesn’t amount to anything but comes with many costs. So, it’s a loss.

Humbly, I couldn’t disagree anymore. I don’t think anyone who believes this has considered the whole picture.

There is a loss when you follow Jesus. Your lifestyle must change. Sin must be confessed and turned from, not embraced and celebrated. He instructs those who want to be saved to lose their life. A life not lost, or yielded, to the God who created it may gain many great things in the eyes of the world, but God has a different perspective. If Jesus is nowhere to be found, the life is lost, no matter the other details.  In this sense, the loss actually leads to great gain. If your losing what will amount to nothing, but gaining everything in Christ, are you really losing at all?

With Jesus, is eternal life and freedom from the sin that enslaves us. He paid for it on the cross and we can receive this gift by believing in Him with our hearts. The life that has been dropped into the hands of the God who created this world and loves all he has made perfectly is no loss at all. It’s indescribable gain.

I’ve been noticing more and more recently just how glorious life is with Jesus. The struggles and trials that do come only result in a deeper intimacy with Him, generating a humble joy that doesn’t dip or rise with the peaks and valleys of emotion. Feelings of loneliness quickly are put back in their place when I consider the words of my God, “I will never leave you or forsake you” (Hebrews 3:15). As I read the proof of this statement that’s taken place throughout the history of this world in His word, I sink back into my chair and consider the one who always does what He says he will do. What is not worth losing to know Him even more?

He tells me he loves me. He showed me on the cross. I believe it.

There are no losses with Jesus.

“Double the ‘C’, double the ‘S’ and you will always have success”.

Whenever I hear the word success, I can’t help but think about this helpful little saying I learned from an episode of Full House. My spelling woes of the word success ended that day as the clever saying became etched into my brain. All I had to do to spell it correctly was follow the process laid out for me in the saying; double the c and double the s. It made complete sense.

As I have gotten older, I’ve realized that achieving what the word actually means is not as simple a process. Along those lines, the process to achieve success really depends upon how each individual defines the term. Those definitions seem to come from a mixture of cultural and personal life experience.

For instance, someone who grew up in a wealthy suburb may view a successful life as one with financial freedom, occasional charitable giving and a beautiful home. What was modeled for them in childhood is repeated and confirmed by the American culture which encourages this “dream”.

On the other side, one who grew up in a broken home within a broken community may see a successful life as “getting out”. That may look exactly like the above scenario, or it could simply be building a life in a healthier environment than the one that individual was raised in. “Rags to riches” tales are a staple of American culture.

Sadly though, the outcome of a seemingly successful life routinely fails those who have gone all-in to capture what their culture and personal experiences have defined for them. While others may call them successful, these victims may secretly try and find a way out of the trap they have fallen into.

We infrequently question what success really is. Thus, we are lead astray by broken methods of measuring a successful life like dollar signs and Twitter followers. If we begin to deeply analyze how we define success, most of us would be led to the same exact place no matter the culture, or personal experience. A place in which we see success not as a way to prove individual worth, but rather as something in which we were reborn into through Jesus Christ.

God’s standard of success is untouchable for every human. Nobody is “good” enough. The very best of what we can do alone is like “filthy rags” to Him. It is beyond our ability to be successful enough to earn God’s love or acceptance. In the ways of our world, this is how things often work. If we are successful at something, we are accepted by others. Luckily, God is not like this with us.

Knowing we’re incapable of the success he’s looking for, which is a sinless life, he decided to send Jesus, his only son to live that successful and perfect life for us only to be brutally crucified for sins that he did not commit. Who committed them? We did.

This suffering he endured was needed so that God could still maintain his justice while granting grace to sinners. Through this, the gift of life through Jesus’s life, death and resurrection was offered to all.

As our culture continues to measure success solely in quantifiable terms, I pray you’ll see through it. Success isn’t about what we can do. It’s about what’s been done for us. It’s about how we can live now that we’ve been reborn and empowered by someone outside ourselves. True success isn’t ours, it’s the Heavenly Father’s.

Therefore, we can live free of trying to measure up to cultural standards of success. We are free to work hard and invest in others along the way thanking our Father in Heaven whether he brings plenty or need. Either way our success is locked up and secure. It’s in Jesus.

 

The following scripture was referenced throughout this blog. Please check these wonderful truths out for yourself!

Romans 3:23 – All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory

2 Corinthians 5:21 – Suffering for the sinless

Romans 3:26 – Justice and grace meet

1 John 2:2 – Jesus sacrifice for ALL