‘What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and lose his soul?’ This statement is one of the most popular statements made by Jesus Christ. However, it is one of the most unpopular in the minds of people.
Anytime I approach the subject of Victory, this Bible verse comes to mind. It is okay if you are wondering what connection exits between this verse and the subject in question. In Mark 8:36, one word that calls for attention is ‘soul’ and in the Christian faith, to lose one’s soul means to die a sinner. Bear in mind that this is not the context in which I write; rather, to make my case in this article, I seek to portray losing one’s soul as being comfortable with anything that discomforts other people as a result of one’s actions to gain the world.
This rhetorical question Jesus asked about gaining the world and losing one’s soul self-answers dissentingly. Looking at the reality of our world today, does the answer still remain dissenting? Are there really no profits? Perhaps, the situation may not be the same in every part of the world.
This is the truth; in our world today, many of the most valued personalities in different sectors of society are people who get victory and lose their souls. From very young ages, we’re taught to believe that what matters most is the competition for victory, and little focus is placed on the need for cooperation for the betterment of our collective human existence. The challenges put before us as kids are those that show our strength when used against others, not when we use them alongside others to make reality the greatest conceivable ideas.
From time immemorial when homo sapiens walked out of the cave, the bond men had therein appears to have disappeared. A new day always revealed to them a new way in which they were different from others. To date, people are trapped in their minds and only see the egoistic delusion that they always have to strive to remain above those they see as different from them. From the fight between Cain and Abel to World War II– the deadliest human conflict in history in which about seventy-five million people perished – it came to my realisation that as human beings tried to differentiate themselves from others, they became worse off and every development they attained fell like a pack of cards.
In recent times, most people are trying to put their money where their mouth is; little do they know that they involuntarily end up having a taste of everything, including from where they did not put their mouth. Everyone is trying to get victory and to prove themselves. Yes, we all work and create value, but the downside of it is when we belittle some people in society because they fail to make it to the top, even though luck plays a very huge role… in my opinion, of course.
On the path to victory, many of us have the conviction that the end justifies the means, when in fact the means takes all of the time; it is what we experience every second of our lives, when in fact there is no end at all. We all chase success in order to chase more success that doesn’t lead to happiness.
In the chase of victory, we lose ourselves from within, thinking it will help us keep everything we have to lose, when we really do not have anything to lose. Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, who we can say lived a victorious life on many pedestals, agrees with me on this. He once said, “Remembering that I will die soon is the most important tool I have ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – external expectations, pride, fear of embarrassment or failure – just falls away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.” The question that remains then is, what is victory when there is death?
Most of the time, the victory we chase exists only in the future, making us lose every bit of the present moment. Just like others, Hitler chased victory by killing millions; we all might not be murderers but may be guilty of killing ourselves in order to get victory, and hence may lose our soul like Jesus said. When our focus is totally shifted to the future, destruction of the present becomes inevitable.
Since the invention of the wheel thousands of years ago, the internet has become another invention that has caused terrific change in the world, and in the way humans live. It has also changed our perception of victory, and if you ask me, it has for the worse. Victory today is measured by the number of likes a family picture gets and not the actual amazing family experience everyone deserves. Young people are more interested in the number of followers they get than the productive things they get done, which shouldn’t be so. The internet is revealing the weak nature of our shared human connection, and is making it even weaker.
It’s about time we reviewed our view of victory, to know that what matters most is the present moment, to understand that the end does not justify the means, and to realise that there is no end to our made-up chase for victory.
Very good write-up. I learnt a lot!
Truly, the end does not justify the means