I hate it when winning feels like losing.
That was my experience a couple of weeks ago when my Auburn Tigers beat the University of Mississippi in a hugely hyped football battle between two highly-ranked teams.
I should have been thoroughly stoked when my team came out on top, but I wasn’t. Why? Because Auburn didn’t play very cleanly or well and won only because a Mississippi player fumbled the ball inches from the goal line after breaking his leg and dislocating his ankle.
A broken leg is a mighty good excuse for letting go of a football, but I’m sure that young man’s misery was compounded because his fumble cost Mississippi the game. He’s probably reliving that play over and over in his mind—even more times than ESPN mercilessly replayed it as officials tried to determine whether a winning touchdown had been scored or a fumble had occurred.
By the time it was ruled a fumble, it was hard for me to muster much excitement about it all. It just didn’t seem right to celebrate as this young guy was being hauled away on a stretcher. At that point, the extent of his injury wasn’t known, but it looked pretty bad, potentially even career-ending.
Every Auburn fan knew we won because a young man lost. Winning felt like losing.
I have that same feeling when I think about another contest that’s been going on for thousands of years with implications infinitely more important than a national football championship. It’s a battle being waged between the purest good and the most malignant evil for the soul of every person ever born into this world.
In the end, we’ll each go home with either God or Satan, to a place more glorious or more horrific than our minds can imagine, to become a trophy in heaven or hell.
Contrary to what some people think, we don’t have to wait until the end to know who wins or where we’re going. God wins—has already won, in fact—and where we end up in eternity hinges on just one thing: What we do now with Jesus Christ.
Jesus said, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3:36)
Seems pretty clear to me.
Those of us who follow Jesus should be thoroughly, deliriously happy about what’s up ahead for us. And we are, except for one thing: our genuine, profound grief over those who are rejecting Christ and setting themselves up for a future of unimaginable torment.
For us, for now, our winning feels a little like losing.
On this side of heaven, our hearts stay partially broken.
The Apostle Paul understood this. He said he would even voluntarily be “accursed” if doing that would convince his beloved kinsmen to believe in Christ (Romans 9:1-3).
Evangelism isn’t about imposing morality or winning ideological debates. It isn’t about declaring holy jihad or coercing conversions.
That’s not the way of Jesus. He calls and invites, even though He knows that many, even most, will reject His invitation.
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it,” Jesus said. (Matthew 7:13-14)
I am so thankful that when I heard Jesus call, I said, “Yes.” And because of that, one day winning will finally feel like winning.
No pain. No grief. No regrets. I can’t wait.
“Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” – Romans 10:13