Isn’t it amazing how certain things stick with you forever; a fragrant smell, scenic view, moment of inspiration, time with a friend, or something heard or read? What causes one thing to leave its imprint on your mind while others disappear somewhere into the depths of eternity? Maybe it is that some things hold more of an emotional impact. Maybe it resonates with who God created you to be. Or, maybe you found yourself caught in a moment of obscurity that forced your soul to search for a deeper meaning, for it is often moments of obscurity that point us to Divinity. Maybe it is in the midst of mystery where God meets us, “Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great… (1Timothy 3:16).”
As an awkward seventh grader I was caught in a moment of mystery while in the Laguna Junior High Locker room moments prior to taking the court. As we passed the coach’s office on the way to pre-game warm ups I noticed a sign Scotch-taped to the wall that simply read, “A quitter never wins. A winner never quits.”
You know, I cannot remember who won that game or even who was on our starting line up. Heck, I probably could not even tell you all the guys that were on our team that year, but I remember that quote. It sits on a plaque in my office just as it sits on the back of our 2009 freshman football team shirts.
“A quitter never wins. A winner never quits.”
I wish I could find the unknown author who penned these words and the unknown coach who taped them on his locker room wall and thank them. This quote has been the driving force behind many of the tough decisions I have had to make in life. It has been a catalyst in the fight for my marriage, my sons, my ministry, and my character. Too often we throw in the towel too soon. We lack the faith to wait for the mystery of God to rock our world with a miracle. We break down before we experience a break through. You see, a quitter never gets to experience what a winner lives out daily because he excuses his way out of something before it comes to fruition. A quitter starts many things but finishes very few. A quitter is a Jack of all trades and master of none.
Maybe that is why I resonate with Paul’s great tenacity. I can relate to the consummate underdog battling against all odds, all of his life until beaten, battered and bruised he writes some of his last words from a Roman prison cell, “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:6-8)”
You see, the easy way out is the wrong way out. The wide road is the wrong road. The longest distance between two points is the short cut. The way of the quitter is the wrong way. Quitting is too easy and too widely accepted in our culture. Someone needs to stand up and call “foul” on those who quit on their marriages, quit on their children, quit on their churches, and quit on their God-given purpose.
Just like the story I heard of a mother who pulled her only son from a football team half-way through the season because the sport was not a "good fit" for him. You know what? Sometimes it is better to fit a square peg into a round hole if adding “quitter” to your character resume is at stake. Later, that same mom confronted the coach to argue the semantics of quitting saying, “It isn’t quitting. It's moving on to something else.” Well, I wonder if his 45 teammates and coaches would agree. At the end of the day this young man quit. Wrap it up in a pretty package, word smith it, and call it what you want, but the fact remains.
He quit.
He quit.
Imagine a dad saying, “Son I need to tell you that I am divorcing your mom and moving into another woman's home because she is a better fit for me than your mother.”
Quitter.
Men, are you starting to get this? The event of quitting is the only success for those who cannot make the cut and don't have the tenacity or the guts to finish well. Finishing is a quality of manhood. Finishing is winning.
We tend to view winning and losing as the end result of a competition, which could not be further from the truth. The scoreboard is only an end to the means of one who endures with courage and ferocity. Attrition is the signature of the quitter. Perseverance is the trademark of the finisher and it is perseverance, friends, that is synonymous to winning.
