Jesus Was A Loser

Matt 10:38-39
“And whoever does not take is cross and follow behind me, is not worthy of me. The one who has found his life will lose it and the one who loses his life because of me will find it.”
I hate success. Not because I value being a slacker or approve of mediocrity. I hate success because more often than not it asks me to be something I can no longer be. When I look at Jesus I don’t see what the world would even remotely classify as successful. You would never see Him on an election ballot for the simple reason that when it was all said and done his popularity would have tanked. His crib would never be featured on MTV since he was homeless. He would never have made the front or even back cover of Forbes because he was penniless. I could go on but I think you get the picture. Jesus was a loser. Those in the first century recognized it and if He lived and walked among us today the world would conclude that no one could possibly be more politically, financially or personally unsuccessful than Jesus.

This is why I hate success. If I actually follow Jesus then success in this world won’t just be something that is unattainable for me it will also be something incompatible with a life marked not by material prosperity or social popularity but by ridicule, suffering and loneliness. But unfortunately Christians (particularly of an American Middle Class Variety) have found a way to make a happy marriage of success and Christianity. The reality, however, is that much damage has been done to the authenticity of genuine discipleship. Many people kick-back instead of truly following Jesus and experiencing a great personal cost. Only one of these is truly compatible with the gospel.

Of course, to end this short essay here would mean I was in fact too short. The One who walked the earth as a loser and calls His followers to a similar life promises something all together different when that life of suffering draws to a close. In life Jesus may have been a loser but in death He would definitely prove to be anything but. You see His resurrection proved He would never ever lose again. He defeated His enemy and ours as well. But then He made a promise: “But this is the will of the one who sent me, that I lose none of the ones he has given me but I will raise him in the last day.” (John 6:39) Did you hear that? You may lose much in this life when you follow Jesus, but you will share in His resurrection upon death. The losers have miraculously and undeservedly become winners. I hope for His glory and your good that you live joyfully as a loser never forgetting that you will one day lose no more.