Rev. George Ellis
Pastor’s Corner
Community, there is nothing like winning. Everybody likes to win, nobody likes to lose. Winning brings on a spirit of excitement; it does something to us mentally; it lifts our spirits and it causes us to react emotionally externally in a positive way.
All of us today can identify with this message because all of us know about winning. In anything where there is competition, we want to be on the winning side; there is a certain pride, bragging rights for those who win; it is in our human nature to want to win.
Look at the world of sports. When two people enter the ring in boxing, they both want to win the title. At the end of the fight, only one of them will have their hand raised in victory as the winner. The loser walks away in defeat. That’s not a good feeling.
Athletes train for years and years for the Olympics, their hope that one day they will win the gold medal. It is this that pushes them, and if they don’t win it crushes their spirits.
All of us that like sports have our personal team that we like — the Pittsburgh Steelers, LA Lakers, Dallas Cowboys, New York Yankees, Georgia Bulldogs, Clemson Tigers, Duke or the North Carolina Tar Heels. Think about how excited we get when our team wins; we bounce around hollering and screaming; think about the reaction and excitement of team sports players when they win the Super Bowl, NBA Championship, the World Series, the NCAA Championship. They jump up and down, hold their fist up in the air, run out on the field or court; some shed tears.
My question is, ”why don’t Christians act like that?”
Think about it, community, everybody likes to win and everybody likes to be on a winning side. Winning expresses itself in action and reaction; winning is healthy; losing can be detrimental to our health; some people don’t like losing; they don’t take it well; they get mad; some want to fight; they are sore losers; some go into depression.
We all have seen losers sit on the sideline or walk off the court. In the NCAA Championship the players shed tears in defeat; nobody likes to lose; winning is exhilarating; it puts you on a high; even if it is nothing but winning an argument; there’s a certain pride when it comes to winning, when you are on top; nothing else matters.
That speaks to us today; because if you are a Christian believer, then hear me when I say you are the greatest winner of all time! And you are on the winning side.
I heard Muhammad Ali say years ago that he was the greatest … meaning the greatest champion of all time. That may have been the case in the world of boxing, but in the real world he’s not, Christ is! He is the undisputed, undefeated champion of all time! He’s never lost a fight or a battle; and WE are on his team. We need to remind ourselves of that.
My next question is, “why don’t we act like champions? Why don’t we talk like champions? Why don’t we act like winners?”
Why don’t Christians exhibit that same attitude and spirit that those in sports do when they win? Because we are on the winning side of the greatest champion and winner that ever lived, not because of what we did, but because of what He did!
In sports, Babe Ruth set a record for hitting home runs in baseball; Hank Aaron came along years later and broke that record. But as great as they both were, neither one of them ever turned water into wine (John 2:1-9).
Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics won more NBA Championships than any other player in NBA history, and as great as that was, he never opened blind eyes (Luke 18:35-43).
Tom Brady has won more Super Bowls than any other quarterback in NFL history if I’m correct; but he never spoke to a demon-possessed man, told the demons to come out of him, and they did, and the man was clothed and in his right mind (Mark 5:1-13).
NASCAR Driver Richard Petty holds the record for winning the most NASCAR trophies in racing, but he never took two fish and five loaves of bread, and fed over 5,000 men, not including the women and children (Mark 6:30-44).
Michael Jordan, in my opinion, is the greatest player to lace up a pair of sneakers in NBA history; the only player to win a championship in college, two gold medals in the Olympics (after college and the Dream Team), NBA Rookie of the year, six NBA championships, six NBA Most Valuable Player awards, and voted the sports person of the last century of all athletes because he went out on top, but even the great Michael Jordan never spit on the ground, made clay, anointed a blind man’s eyes and he could see clearly (John 9:1-7); not even he, could stop a funeral procession of a dead boy with his mother grieving; touch the boy in his coffin, and he came back alive (Luke 7:11-17).
And none of the above, not one, could take a stomp down sinner … headed to a burning hell … change his heart, turn him around and make a saint out of a sinner. But I know a man who did! Friends, COVID 19, sickness, and all circumstances are under His feet; we are on the winning side!
The Rev. George Ellis is the pastor at Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church.