Running the Race
The Olympics are finally here! The world’s eyes will be set on Paris over the coming days as people from across the globe unite to compete in feats of athleticism. For me personally, I like watching the Track and Field events.
When I was in high school, I participated in Track by running the 1600m, the 800m, and being a leg on the 4x400. Mid-distance all the way, baby! If anyone tells you that a particular race other than the 800m is hard, don’t believe them. The 800 meter race is by far the hardest event in Track. You need the speed of a sprinter and the endurance of a distance runner to compete well. It’s grueling.
The Apostle Paul also knew how grueling running a race could be when he wrote to the Corinthians. A fledgling church in the port city of Corinth, teeming with trade and business. This usually brought about worship of other gods and detestable practices that these ‘gods’ deemed acceptable.
And here is the church. Meeting right in the middle of it reading this letter that Paul sent them. If you haven’t read 1 Corinthians in a while, you should go and re-read it. There’s some crazy things going on that would make today’s Church issues a little more tame (though not by much sadly.) Paul addresses many of the issues they wrote to him about because he cared about them as a shepherd cares about his sheep. He wanted them to run their race with perseverance and finish well.
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
Paul wanted the church in Corinth to know that when we approach our faith, we do not do so in a haphazard way or an apathetic way. We should approach following the Lord in a manner that is worthy of His name.
Too many times we reduce following God to Bible reading and prayer. These are good things and shouldn’t be neglected, but when do we allow ourselves to be silent and listen for His voice? When do we battle our fleshly nature by fasting? When do we see the poor and offer not only a few dollars, but a listening ear to hear their story?
We run the race of faith every single day to get the prize that is Jesus Christ. We train ourselves to be less worldly and more holy, less fleshly and more faithful, less careless and more prayerful, less apathetic and more tear-shedding.
The Olympic Games will be fun to watch, but they will come and go. The world will go back to its ways and we will snap back into reality. Only this time, we will have caught the vision for each of us to run the race marked out for us by Christ himself.
