By Rod Johnson

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Years ago I was watching an NFL playoff game and my wife came in and asked that same old question, “Who’s winning?” When I said, “I don’t know,” she thought Id just given her the brush off. She looked at the score displayed on the TV screen and said something like, “It says there that Houston’s ahead 35 to 3 and the second half has barely started. What do you mean you don’t know?”

Now if I really wanted to be as contentious as Amy already thought I was being, I would have answered with, “If you can read that, why’d you ask me then?” Not a good reply! All sorts of danger lurking in that type of response. But the truth was, I didn’t know. And neither did she, because temporary conditions do not an outcome make!

At many levels we seem to be losing - in our country, in our households, in our marriages, sometimes even in our faith.

But back to football.

The date was January 3, 1993, and the Houston Oilers were playing the Bills in Buffalo for the AFC championship and thus the right to go to the Super Bowl. The Oilers, on the strength of four touchdown passes by Warren Moon, had built a 28-3 lead at halftime. Everything was a disaster. Bills starting quarterback Jim Kelly was injured and backup Frank Reich was behind center. To add injury to insult, moments into the second half Houston strong safety Bubba McDowell intercepted a pass and ran 58 yards for another Oiler score and what appeared to be the final nail in the coffin.

But hold your horses.

Shortly after that Buffalo began a rally with a one-yard TD run by Kenneth Davis. With the situation already a mess Buffalo did the unlikely and kicked an onside kick after the score. Mind you, this was still early in the third quarter. Nobody tries onside kicks that early because the consequences of failure are so high. You may bury yourself even further into the hole. But Buffalo took a chance and kicker Steve Christie recovered his own kick and Reich took over.

Buffalo scored 28 third quarter points and even went ahead 38-35 with just under 3 minutes to play. With seconds left in regulation, Oilers’ kicker Al Del Greco tied the score with a 26-yard field goal kick that sent the game into overtime.

But early into OT, defensive back Nate Odomes intercepted a Moon pass and Christie booted a 32-yard field goal to complete the NFL’s greatest-ever comeback.

With sports and other games, you really don’t know for sure who is “winning” until the final gun has sounded. And you don’t really know until the game is over whether a team was ahead but actually losing and if the other team, though temporarily behind, was in reality winning the game all along.

When Buffalo was down 28-3 at half and 35-3 early in the third, they were actually in the process of  winning the game. Every ounce of logic said it was over; that they were done. But they were only temporarily behind! They weren't simply going to win. They already were WINNING!

So how did it happen? Well, first these guys simply refused to play out the clock. Nobody would have faulted them for finishing out the game with a token effort, just getting it over with as quickly and painlessly as possible. After all, there was a nice, warm locker room waiting for them regardless of the details of the game. They were also all getting nice paychecks just for making it to that game. After awhile, they could simply write off the day as a bad performance and glory in the successful season they had.

But instead the players played. They chose to compete like the winners they believed they were. First, they seized a moment. Then they seized another moment. After a while, they had not merely seized moments; they had seized momentum. There wasn’t a play in the Bills’ playbook that would score 32 points all at once. They won by taking three points here, a touchdown there.

During sports contests you never really know who is winning until it’s over. However, some players have the heart to continue to play the game as hard as they can until the fat lady really does sing. Some competitors choose to play as hard as they can regardless of the circumstances even when they know they won’t win them all. They just have that determination and confidence to continue to fight the good fight all the way to the end – win or lose. For you see, even though in sports the result isn’t ever certain until the game is over, players with character continue to go all out.

So why do so many Christians give up? With Christ, you know who is winning. There is no doubt! There is no uncertainty! We are going to win the game!

No matter how gloomy the situation is, no matter how hopeless the circumstances appear, no matter how inevitable Satan’s victory seems in a situation, no matter how certain the defeat appears, Christians are in the process of winning. Because God has already won, we are winning, too. We are more than conquerors in Christ. Satan is only temporarily ahead.

What kind of player are you? Are you the kind that quits when you get behind? Or maybe you’re like a fan, never really engaging in battle at all. You get your ticket punched, sit on the sidelines and second-guess and complain, and then miss out on the ultimate victory because the impossible was, well, impossible! It was bitterly cold that day in Buffalo and most missed witnessing history in favor of someplace warmer. (Lots of symbolism there, too, I suppose.)

But you know, sometimes our role is to be a cheerleader for some battles. We’re simply not gifted to participate in every battle, but we can stay loyal, encouraging, supporting, believing.

So what are the parallels found in that football game for us as believers?

1. The players stayed in the game.

2. They persevered even when their own had given up on them.

3. They stayed on the offensive.

4. They rallied behind a second string quarterback, believing that it was the team that ultimately wins; it was the system that would prevail; that each of them was gifted in ways to contribute to the body.

5. They also played defense.

6. They took chances.

7. They had faith in the fruits of faithful work.

Sure, heaven’s a given. It’s a done deal, but sometimes the game gets too hard. We miss out in the journey by simply becoming satisfied with the destination.

Just like in football, a Christian’s victory isn’t just making it into the locker room, getting the paycheck, getting some awards, and feeling content about where you wound up. Total victory means winning the moments that make up the game.