I'm not talking about hustling. Or strategically losing battles to win the war. There is a place for this kind of shrewd dealing, but it is still just classic 'dealing', survival and competition.
There is another 'win' - the complete and powerful 'win' - that comes through complete and painful 'loss'. It seems contradictory in terms, because it is. The paradigm and the power comes through the story and the spirit of Jesus Christ. Christ found his truest purpose in losing self, so that we might be found. He asked God to save him from this pain (Mt 27:46), but saw a 'joy' up ahead that carried him through. (Heb 12:2) He poured himself out, 'became nothing' (Phil 2:6), became 'sin' (2 Cor 5:21), so that we might become 'righteousness'. His glory, his accomplishment, was to lose himself to and through us. We are told that the full mystery of God is revealed in this: ‘Christ in you.’ (Col 1:27) So his glory, his destiny, was to fade and disappear into others. So he lost, and I won. And yet deep down, through the dark corridors of pain and death, Christ also came into his consummated destiny. No one remains in loss. For this reason, Jesus teaches us, to lose ourselves to him (Mk 8:34-38), and to expend ourselves in and through others. (Phil 2:17) This is the way of Christ, and the trap door to spiritual, eternal freedom.
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AuthorPeter Walker. I hope you enjoy these reflections. Please feel free to comment!:) Archives
February 2024
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