Running the race – part 3

1 Corinthians 9:24-25 “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. 25 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.”

The athletic metaphor seems to transcend time and culture. Some 3000 years before Christ, we see the Egyptians involved in sports for the purpose of training for war, strengthening their bodies, and pure recreation. Today, we hear catch-phrases that are rooted within the context of athletic metaphors: No pain, no gain…Give it your best shot…He who aims at nothing hits it every time… Don’t throw in the towel, etc.

Paul of Tarsus at times, compared the Christian life to athletic dimensions. Consider his “fight the fight,” or “run with patience,” or “wrestle not with flesh and blood” statements. His writings are sprinkled with references to the Greek games.

It’s beneficial for us to understand this context. Although there is no aspect of competition in the context of Christianity and the church as I have earlier addressed, an observation from Paul’s illustrations is telling almost the opposite: in his metaphors, there is no concept of a “team sport.” While it is true that the church is “one body” and “strives together,” the games to which Paul refers are individual competitions.

There was no place for a “weak link” to hide behind stronger players. Crowns were won on the merit of the individual. In the Christian “race” to which we are called to run, God is not handing out the victor’s crown to the entire body. Those who would win this crown must do it by being faithful to their own course.

The Discipline of the Athletes

The Olympic and Isthmian Games were not designed for the casual runner. It was not intended as an outlet for recreation. Competitors in the early what we call Olympic Games, for example, were required to swear that they had trained diligently for at least 10 months.

The area on which Paul touches is: self-discipline. This discipline was displayed in the training, the dieting, and the intense pressure to which their bodies were subjected. In those days, there were great benefits for the winning athlete. He was offered tax-free living, free meals at the city hall, the ability to marry whomever he chose, and welcomed as a hero with his city singing his praises. With his eye on the goal, he endured and “brought his body under subjection” because he felt that the benefit was worth it.

1 Corinthians 9:26 “Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.”

Application: What are the areas of your life which are not under the discipline that is needed to be able to fully and freely embrace the purpose of your life that God intended you to experience?

Prayer.