Would-be disciples of Jesus must heed his demand: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Matthew 16.24–26 NIV) This is all about the kind of selfless attitude that is willing to give up personal gain or advantage for the sake of Christ, which often involves self-sacrifice for others as well.
The apostle Paul echoes this truth when he instructs Christians: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2.3–4 NIV). Humbly losing personal advantage for the sake of others reflects the same mindset as that of Christ (Philippians 2.5-11).
But there is more to this biblical truth. For when athletes in the Olympics intentionally play to lose, such losing is just not right. The Olympics are about competition. And people expect to watch athletes give their best in every game or event. For athletes to engage in such behavior is to disgrace the sport and to cheat the people.
Such was the case of eight badminton players from three countries who were disqualified from the games. Their behavior was far from being humble self-sacrifice. They were already assured of moving up in the competitions. It is said that their “losing” was really more a strategy to “win” medals by trying to manipulate whom they will play against in the more important games.
We must understand that simply appearing to lose as a strategy for ultimate victory is not true humility or self-sacrifice. It does not really benefit the one who is a recipient of our fake sacrifice. The application of the biblical teaching about losing must be authentic and accomplished with integrity.
For example, Christ rejects the kind of self-sacrificing religiosity that is only a show to impress others. “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them…. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others” (Matthew 6.1–2 NIV). Here, the “losing of self” is really a means of gaining something from others.
May we learn to recognize and practice “authentic losing.”
—Keith Jainga