Christianity is for Losers. If you don’t nod in agreement to that statement, you don’t get it. That summarizes the Christian faith. As much as we deny it by our actions and expectations, Christianity is not a faith for the successful or the winner. The true athlete testimony shouldn’t come from an ace quarterback who just won the SuperBowl, a winner for Jesus who can spout platitudes to his Lord. The real testimony should come from the loser, the one who has to live with his inadequacy, the one who needs his Lord so much more.
Being a loser is a prerequisite for being a Christian. We don’t have it all together, and that’s what the Gospel is all about. Getting dressed up for church is only obscuring the truth. We are sinful people. We’re all screwed up, and no paisley tie is going to make up for it. The idea that you have to clean up your life before you can come to church is heresy. The church should have room for the prostitute on her way home, the teen fresh from the abortion clinic, the date rape boyfriend, the suit tithing from his embezzled funds, the SAT cheater, the divorced mother, the anorexic tween, the drunk wino, the abusive pastor, the college student day dreaming of last night’s porn, and the self-righteous deacon who wants to usher them all out.
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That means we suck. I suck, you suck, we all suck. We’re the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked. And don’t tell me you’re worse off that I am, cuz you’re not. We’re all in this together, pal, so get off your high horse. There is none righteous, so don’t even try. When you do try, it’s crap. No one is impressed.
It is then and only then that the cross of Christianity makes sense. Because we can’t do it ourselves, because we can’t meet the demands of a just God, because we look like shit–Jesus died on the cross. It’s only through him that we have salvation. We didn’t deserve it, but he gave it to us anyway. We didn’t wrack up enough Jesus points and cash in for the ticket to heaven. It’s not about being good, it’s about getting what you don’t deserve–grace.
Christianity is for losers. And we’re so lost, we still don’t get it. The rest of the world thinks being a Christian is about being nauseatingly perfect. Instead we’re just plan nauseating. (Inspired by Jeremy Klaszus’ essay “Christianity is for Losers” in Deeper Walk Vol. 2)