Losers and God

This past Tuesday evening, I went out and played basketball with some of the teenagers and men of our church.  I had a blast.

As I was driving to the church, I realized that I have been playing basketball for around 44 years. 

It has always been a part of my life.

If there is one thing I know about basketball, is that the major goal is to win.

And win big.

I understand that.  We understand that as Americans. 

General George Patton famously remarked, ”Americans love a winner. America will not tolerate a loser.”

And former Green Bay Packer coach Vince Lombardi once said: “Show me a good loser, and I’ll show you a loser.”

We all want to be on the winning team, don’t we?

This past Super Bowl, I didn't have a favorite team.  Being a Dallas Cowboy fan, I don't like either the Packers or especially the Steelers.  But the truth is, if I’m watching a sporting event where I don’t already have a favorite team, I’ll pick one of the teams to root for. I just do that automatically. I suppose most people are like that. We like competition, and we like to be on the winning side (I was rooting for the Packers).

But yet, here's what I am learning.  God loves losers.

Yes, he does.

When I say God prefers losers, I mean he prefers people who know their weakness, see their flaws, admit their mistakes, and cry out to him for help.

God specializes in taking losers and displaying his power through them.

Have you ever noticed that all, and I do mean all of the heroes in the Bible had serious flaws?

Why is that?

For one thing, that’s all God has to work with. All the perfect people are in heaven. The only ones on earth are the folks with serious weaknesses. The talent pool has always been pretty thin when it comes to moral perfection. So God works with sinners because that’s all he has to work with. In heaven we will all be perfected by God’s grace. But until then, he uses some pretty ornery people who fall short in many ways, and he does some amazing things through them.

Consider the roll call of God’s imperfect heroes:
Noah got drunk.

Abraham lied about his wife.

Sarah laughed at God.

Jacob was a deceiver.

Moses murdered an Egyptian.

Rahab was a harlot.

Gideon was fearful.

Jephthah made a foolish vow.

Samson had serious problems with lust and anger.

Eli failed as a father.

David was an adulterer and a murderer.

Solomon married foreign wives who turned his heart toward idolatry.

Elijah struggled with depression.

Jonah ran away from God.

Peter denied Christ.

Paul argued with Barnabas.

Barnabas compromised the gospel.

James and John wanted special seats in the kingdom.

All the apostles argued about who was the greatest.

God prefers people who know their weakness, see their flaws, admit their mistakes, and cry out to him for help.

God loves losers - and for that, in all of my own imperfections, I am grateful for today.