Playing to Win...or Not to Lose?

We know we are not to sin—it is succinctly the separation from God, apart from whom there is no life and is only death. We also know that we are to aspire to and desire righteousness. So is there a difference between not sinning and becoming righteous in God’s sight? Ultimately, they are the same and one cannot happen without the other. However, the difference, I believe, is attitude or approach. Athletes: it is the difference between playing to win a game or playing not to lose. Some may say, “what’s the difference?” Oh my, what a difference. Those of you who are conscientious athletes know exactly what I’m talking about. Teams that play not to lose indeed lose much more often than teams that play to win. I speak as an amateur athlete from childhood to present day, playing on numerous teams in multiple sports. From an individual perspective, this is seen in the difference between playing to help the team and playing not to make a mistake. Have you ever taken the field or court saying, “I just don’t want to screw up?” I can tell you what is just around the corner when those are your thoughts—you make that big mistake. I have lived it. Athletes or not, I think most of us see the analogy, but yet another example is in driving a vehicle: Have you ever tried to avoid the center-line on a road by continually staring at it? If you have, then you know what happens. Stare at it long enough, and you’ll find yourself gravitating toward the very thing you are trying to avoid! (you may be tempted to try it…but make sure there is no one on the road with you!) There is even a basic principle in racecar driving—look where you want the car to go and you’ll find yourself there. If you stare at the wall or barrier, you are going to hit it. (you need to glance at it or be aware of it in your peripheral vision, but you focus where you want the car to go and not the wall—or you will likely hit it sooner or later!)

So today we go out into the world, full of its temptations. How will we avoid them? How will we pursue righteousness that is oneness with God—opposite and mutually exclusive from sin? It seems noble to say, “I just don’t want to fall into temptation…or THAT temptation.” Well, stop thinking about it. Think about it only long enough to recognize it and your holy desire not to do it and to pursue righteousness. From there, our focus has to turn to the positive…or rather, the Positive. Only by looking toward what we want to be, only by looking to do good in God’s sight, only by “running for the prize” and “fighting the good fight” (1 Tim 1:18, 1 Tim 6:12, 2 Tim 4:7) will we be successful.

1 Cor 9:24-27 –
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”

Perhaps we begin by briefly acknowledging the terrible presence of sin and the holy desire to avoid it. But if you stare that sin in the face and dwell on it, living a life of fear, running from it, but not running toward anything or anyone in particular—you’ll find yourself right where you mind’s eye has been looking—in sin.

So how do we look to God? Number one, prayer. Prayer is an absolute focus on what is righteous and pure: God. Second, God’s Holy Word, the Bible. Read it and ponder it and find ways to apply it every single day. Find fellowship with other Christians with a shared focus on what is righteous. We are warriors together to fend off temptation, sin, treachery, and Satan himself, as well as advancing toward our goal and victory in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 6:11-12 – “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

Examples of good things to refocus on, as well as “taking every thought captive:”

Phil 4:8-9 - “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."

2 Cor 10:3-5 – “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

Desire more than a life of sin avoidance—“we are more than conquerors in Christ.” Desire what that really means—salvation first, then righteousness shared in oneness with God and all those called sons of God (Gal 3:26-27, Rom 8:13-15, others).

Rom 8:35-39 – “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
"For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

At this point, we realize that it is a constant journey toward God until we get to Heaven and perhaps we begin to stop looking for boundaries by aiming just this side of sin—“where is the line?” If we are asking this question, we have already strayed—do we want to know where the line is so we can stay as far away as possible or so we know how close we can get? Be honest with yourself. Knowing God’s principles and natural boundaries is necessary, but we must not aim for the edges of the road, for if we slip, we are already near the edge. Aim for the center! Would you drive on a mile-high cliff one inch from the edge? “No one in their right mind would do that—you’re crazy for suggesting it.” Am I? Many of us are so crazy in the way we live our lives! Adolescence is often the pinnacle of such an attitude, if you ask me. And there is much to learn from the necessary correction when overstepping our righteous boundaries—thank our Good Lord that He is so forgiving and loving. There is also a truth in saying that a line is only truly found by crossing it. Let’s not be so bent on finding the line—because that often includes crossing into sin. But as adults, let’s stop riding the edge—let’s look to aim for the center of righteousness.

This means that when we read something in the Bible that doesn’t make us comfortable or we don’t yet understand or sounds harsh—we don’t reject it because it is uncomfortable, resorting to the comfortable religion the world would have us accept—we search out its meaning whether individually or with other believers. “I know behavior A is a sin, and behavior C is not a sin…but what about behavior B in the middle?” Well, maybe behavior B is a sin or maybe it’s not—but how about aiming for the center of the road and engage in behavior C instead of behavior B until you have searched out God’s righteousness through prayer, Bible study, and fellowship? “For God is not the author of confusion, He is the author of all peace.” (1 Cor 14:33a) “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith” (James 1:5-6a) God loves it when we come to Him like this, for it is a child-like faith in Him, combined with an adult’s God-given faculties. I think we learn to love it, too. It is the essence of why Jesus says “narrow is the gate and difficult is the way that leads to life,” (Matt 7:13-14) while also saying, “my yoke is easy, my burden is light.” (Matt 11:28-30) Do these sound contradictory? They’re not. They speak to completely different aspects or dimensions of our walks. The road is narrow because it is the way of God Himself, perfect, which is impossible without His Holy Spirit. It’s the ultimate narrow road. Yet, walking it can be easy and a light burden through the Holy Spirit and loving relationship with Jesus. We just put one foot in front of the other, as Jesus takes us by the hand and the Holy Spirit guides us from inside our very bodies. Look to the center of the road and where we are going—Heaven and oneness with God and all believers—may you find the truth in the light burden and easy yoke of God in the pursuit of pure righteousness.