Losers Like Us: Redefining Discipleship after Epic Failure

Top Highlights

“Note that in making his selection, Jesus bypassed the religious institutions and took it to the streets. He snubbed the head of the class, the cream of the crop. He ignored credentials, achievements, and the ‘who’s who’ of religious piety. He jettisoned every qualification we deem important in leadership and chose instead to call ordinary people—mostly manual laborers with little or no education, ministry experience, or leadership skills.” (source)

“My problem is typical among spotlight lovers: somewhere along the way, many of us move from seeing the spotlight as a fun but neutral part of life, to seeing it as the goal of life. Instead of using the spotlight to reveal Jesus to others, we use Jesus as a spotlight to draw attention to ourselves.” (source)

“He has only three main ‘scenes’ in Scripture—bringing Peter to Jesus, bringing the boy with the loaves and fishes to Jesus, and bringing some Greeks to Jesus—but in each case, he is introducing someone to Jesus.” (source)

“Yet this is what makes the story so exciting. God’s choice is perfect. Those he has chosen to do kingdom work are the perfect ones to do it. And yet, they are always flawed individuals. Losers. This pattern, consistent throughout Scripture, is a remarkable testament to God’s creativity and grace: he chooses ordinary, broken humans to introduce his mercy and love to an ordinary, broken world.” (source)

“In the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, as Indiana passionately chases after the Holy Grail from which Christ drank at the Last Supper, his father pointedly asks him, ‘Do you seek the cup for his glory, or yours?’” (source)