Why God Prefers Losers
2 Corinthians 4:7-10
7 For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
8 You are already full! You are already rich! You have reigned as kings without us—and indeed I could wish you did reign, that we also might reign with you!
9 For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.
10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored!
Don’t you think that statement sounds very un-American?
• General George Patton once remarked: “Americans love a winner. America will not tolerate a loser.”
• Coach Vince Lombardi 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? That’s why over 100,000 people crowd into ball stadiums and Churchill Downs, while millions of others watch it all on TV.
• Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft said, “Success is a lousy teacher. It makes smart people think they can’t lose. When “smart people” think they can’t lose, there’s an upset brewing. That’s when David beats Goliath and the underdog triumphs.”
That’s the problem with winners. Once you think you can’t lose, you feel invincible. You can win too much, too soon, too easily. Before long you prove the old adage that it’s a short step from victory to defeat.
For all the problems that losing brings, at least it cures the illusion of invincibility.
* Ask Tiger Woods, Rick Pitino.
• 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 God for help. That’s all God has to work with. All the perfect people are in Heaven.
Just 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 a serious problem 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.
7 Things that only God can do in you!
1. I am Forgiven. God has removed my Debts.
2. I am Justified. God has changed my State.
3. I am Regenerated. God has transformed my heart.
4. I am Adopted. God has changed my Family.
5. I am Redeemed. God has changed my Ownership.
6. I am Sanctified. God has changed my Behavior.
7. I am Reconciled. God has become my Friend.
• If a man has all this, he is rich. It doesn’t matter how much money he has in the bank because if he has all this, he is rich in what matters most.
God Hides His Treasure In Jars Of Clay.
Sometimes the greatest treasures come in ordinary pots. In 1947 a shepherd found a ceramic jar containing very ancient scrolls in a cave overlooking the Dead Sea. Since he could not decipher the scrolls, he had no idea what they said. Later more scrolls were discovered in the same cave and in other caves nearby. The shepherd eventually sold three of them for approximately $29.00. Only later was it determined that he had stumbled upon the greatest collection of biblical manuscripts found in the 20-century, the Dead Sea Scrolls. Those scrolls contained parts of every Old Testament book except Esther- all of them dated a thousand years earlier than any copy known at that time.
We all have our limits whether we know it or not. We can go and go and go but sooner or later, life catches up with us, and we are broken like everyone else.
• We like to think we can handle anything. We can’t.
• We like to think we can go forever. We can’t.
• We like to think we can stand up to anything. We can’t.
• What happens to our bodies when we die? They begin to decompose, returning back to the earth from which they came.
• So this is our true identity- we’re all just little clumps of dust, some of us dressed a little better, some of us look a little stronger, some of us last a little longer, but in the end we all go back to dust.
TRUTH: When God wanted to communicate His message, he didn’t go to a philosopher. He chose fishermen.
God arranges things so that the whole world will know that this sort of life-changing power comes from God and not from us. Look at the story of Gideon in Judges 7.
135,000 Midianite soldiers attacked Israel and Gideon only had 32,000.
• That’s a 4 to 1 advantage
• God wasn’t happy with those odds, so He told Gideon to send all the scaredy cats home. 22,000 ran back home, leaving Gideon with only 10,000. Now he’s down to 13 to 1 odds.
• God knew that still wasn’t going to work, so He told Gideon to dismiss all the soldiers who didn’t lap water like a dog. With only 300 men left, Gideon had a 450 to 1 odds.
• Under God’s instructions, Gideon divided his men into three groups of 100 and prepared for a nighttime assault.
• Around midnight they blew their trumpets and held up their torches while they shouted.
The ambush so greatly shocked the Midianites that they fled in fear and confusion, attacking each other in the process, leading to a total rout by Gideon’s band of 300. Guess who got the credit when the battle was over?
God did! And that’s what He had in mind all along. Sometimes God has to cut us down to size so that when the battle is over, He alone gets the glory.
When God wants to win a victory, He chooses a loser and makes him a winner. God is looking for nobodies who will become somebodies in His hands.
God put His treasure in earthen vessels- on purpose! He does it so that when things happen, the people around us will come to only one possible conclusion: “All I know is, it can’t be him. It can’t be her. He’s not that smart. She’s not that strong. It’s got to be God!”
TRUTH: God’s not looking for winners – He’s looking for Willingness.
12 Disciples in a boat – ONLY 1!
• Sure he sunk – but at least he tried!
• The same guy denied Jesus 3 times.
• Cussed. * Cut the ear off a solider.
• Yet, in Acts 5 – Shadow –
• Later he takes the Gospel to a man name Cornilious –A GENTILE!
Pete Rose – Play video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPwzrtfILik
September 11, 1985 – 4,192 Hits. Finished with 4,252 Hits.
You want to know another record he holds? 10,328……. OUTS
Winners – or Willingness!
Some of you aren’t afraid of failing - You’re afraid of even trying!
