This last week many of my family were caught up in the Ladies’ Classic Basketball tournament. Several times each day I would ask about the games and how things were going. I made the statement one day, “well second place isn’t that bad.” Then my younger son said, “Second place is first loser.”
We talk a lot about sportsmanship and being a good loser, and I certainly do not agree with the “win at any cost” philosophy of sports, but my son’s statement happened to ring a bell with me as I was preparing a sermon from Revelation 2:1-7. In many ways it was a great church, but in this letter we find that it was a church where Jesus comes in second. That is tragic because we know from the sports world that nobody really cares who comes in second, that is why there is such an emphasis on winning. It is no longer how you play the game, it is who wins and comes in first that really matters.
That is why coaches and teams work so hard, because they want to win each contest. While I do not believe that is the way it should be in the world of sports, I do believe that is exactly the way it should be in the spirit world. Who and what comes in first will determine whether your life really counts for God. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
So I ask, “Are we a church where Jesus comes in second? If He comes in second in my life and your life, there is no way he will be first in the life of the church. What is more important to you:
*a new television or your tithe to the LORD?
*Watching a football game, or being in church on Sunday night?
Are you as faithful to church as you are to your club, or to the sports team for which you play?
Make sure He finishes first in your life and church this new year.
Tommy
