Are you a loser? If you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, Ted Turner would say you are. Do you remember Ted Turner?
Multi-billionaire Ted Turner was a major player in the business, sports, and entertainment world in the 1980’s and 90’s. He was an early visionary and developer of cable TV (CNN, Turner Network Television, Turner Classic Movies, and more), he was the owner of the Atlanta Braves baseball team (along with Atlanta Hawks basketball team and Atlanta Thrashers hockey team), he was the largest independent landowner in America, he was married to Academy Award winning actress Jane Fonda, and, as one of the richest people in the world, he had more personal wealth than the Gross National Product of many small nations. He was Time magazine’s ‘Man of the Year’ in 1992. He was one of life’s biggest winners, so when he called someone a loser, people listened.
The term ‘bully pulpit’ was first used by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1909 to describe how his presidency was a fantastic platform to make the case to the American people for his ambitious agenda for the nation. The dictionary now defines it as “a position of authority that provides its occupant with an outstanding opportunity to speak out on any issue.” Ted Turner possessed such a ‘bully pulpit’ for several years, and he often used it to ridicule, belittle, and insult those of us who believe in Jesus. He said, among other things, that the Ten Commandments are outdated and should be replaced, that Christians are dummies, and that the Christian faith is for losers.
Well, I also had a pulpit in those years, and though I had a much smaller audience, I would occasionally use my pulpit to respond to Turner’s outrageous attacks. His arguments were shallow and not hard to answer. For example, when he said the Ten Commandments were outdated, I brought into the pulpit one of the many movie video cassettes his company was selling at the time. There, on the back of the cover, it said very clearly, “The contents of this video are copyrighted by Turner Classic Movies, and may not be reproduced for sale. Violators will be prosecuted.” That sounded to me like “Thou Shalt Not Steal.” Also, at that time, he was involved in a seventeen-million-dollar lawsuit that had to do with someone slandering someone else. Well, slander is what the commandment on ‘not bearing false witness against thy neighbor’ is all about. Turner had five children, and my guess is he expected them to ‘honor their father and mother.’ And even though I disagreed with Ted Turner on many things, he did not look like the kind of guy that would approve of people going around killing each other. So, that was already four commandments out of the ten that he must have approved of, and in my sermon I kept going through the other six. As I pointed out, his arguments were weak, and his nonsense was quoted only because he had lots of money.
Ted Turner is not in the public eye any more, and the only reason I am referring to him today is because I recently ran across on old sermon from 1999; one that now needs an update. Here is what I said back then:
Ted Turner has said that ‘Christianity is a religion for losers.’ One woman read that comment by Turner in a magazine and responded, ‘The poor man doesn’t know what he is talking about. Doesn’t he know how powerful the Christian faith is in a person’s life, and what a source of strength it is?’ That is a good answer, but my response would go in a different direction. When discussing differences in beliefs or opinions, I like to find something we can both agree on, and then build out from there. Ted Turner says Christianity is for losers. I agree completely. Christianity most certainly is a religion for losers. Turner’s only mistake is in not realizing that he is a loser himself. You might say, ‘What? Ted Turner, a loser? It looks like he is one of the biggest winners ever.’ But, of course, all we have to do is expand our perspective by just a few years, and we see that in the end, Ted Turner will be a loser too. We all lose it all, in death, don’t we? We all, in the end, no matter how much we have gained in this life, lose the exact same percentage of whatever we had. In death, we all lose 100%. And that loss could come today for any one of us. I could wake up tomorrow with greater personal wealth than Ted Turner, because he may not wake up at all; or, I might not wake up. Tomorrow, or whenever, that day is most definitely coming for both of us. Ted Turner is absolutely right. Our Christian faith is for losers; and that’s all of us, folks.
Job was a man in the Old Testament who, like Ted Turner, was very wealthy; he was “the greatest man in the East,” says Job 1:3. Then, Job lost everything. He lost his wealth, he lost his family, and then he lost his health. He lost it all. He was still alive, but was in so much agony, he wished he was dead. He went from being the biggest winner to being the biggest loser. But the experience made Job think about life and about death with profound wisdom. Here is what Job, the loser, said: “One person dies in full vigor, completely secure and at ease, well-nourished in body, his bones rich with marrow. Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having enjoyed anything good. Side by side they lie in the dust, and worms cover them both” (Job 21:23-26).
There are certain facts in the Bible that cannot be argued, and this is one of them. Ted Turner can sneer at the Ten Commandments and faith in Jesus Christ, but he cannot, in the end, escape being a loser. We do need to depend on something greater than ourselves, something that can give back the life we lose. Jesus said, “Because I live, you also shall live” (John 14:19). In that hope we live and die—and live again.
Here is the update. Ted Turner is now 87 years old. In 2018 he was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, which has been described as a combination of Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.
I would not wish that on anyone. It has left Turner in the slow process of losing everything. He is losing his strength, his energy, his balance, and his memory. He remains engaged as much as he is able, but the disease has taken much from him and leaves him with many challenges.
Though Turner does not profess faith in any religion, he has apologized for his many negative comments on religion in the past, noting the many accomplishments of Christian relief work around the world. He has even partnered with Lutheran and Methodist organizations in a world-wide battle against malaria. Turner has given much of his wealth to charity, and his will designates that after his death, most of his remaining wealth will also go to charity. He has said, “There is no greater joy in life than giving to worthy causes.”
I admire Ted Turner for his generosity and for his ability to apologize for his past statements about Christianity. It is my hope that he comes to faith in Jesus Christ, who has promised that for all who believe in him, even though we lose everything, we gain everything.
Ted Turner in 2020
*****************************************************************
II Samuel 1:27 — How the mighty have fallen!
Jeremiah 9:23-24 — Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth.
Matthew 10:39 — (Jesus said), “Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”
Philippians 3:7-8 — Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.
Related Posts
