SERIES: Christ Is the Answer When the Church Is in Crisis
Spiritual Olympics
SCRIPTURE: 1 Cor. 9:24‑27
Introduction: I don’t know about you, but I really enjoy the Olympics when they come around every four years. I am in awe of the incredible physical ability, stamina, and commitment to training exhibited by world-class athletes. And thanks to the marvels of modern technology, nearly every event in every sport is available around the clock on TV or on the Internet. I heard about a guy who said his son was already in training for the next Olympics in Salt Lake City–he was watching TV twelve hours a day!
Well, the Apostle Paul was apparently a great sports fan, too. At least he was well aware of the important part sports played in the life of the ancient Greeks, for Paul used more athletic metaphors and terminology than all other biblical writers combined. Chances are he was in Greece during at least one of the great Olympiads. Almost certainly he was in Corinth during at least one of the Isthmian games, which were held there every three years.
These athletic contests left an indelible impression on Paul’s mind, and he saw very specific application of them to the Christian life. Paul would argue forcefully against the view that a person becomes a Christian, coasts through life, and eventually graduates to heaven. The Christian life is definitely not an initial spasm followed by chronic inertia. It is a race, and not a 100‑yard dash either. Rather it’s a marathon that lasts throughout the believer’s life.
Now let me make it clear right from the get-go this morning that the Christian life is not a race to achieve entrance into Heaven. We are saved by grace, not by effort or discipline or obedience or good works or anything else we do. We are saved by believing, not by achieving. We are saved forgood works, not by good works. Still, the Christian life is a race, a race to accomplish what God put us here for, a race to present ourselves approved unto God, a race to finish in a way so as to hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Are you in the race this morning? If not, I’m going to tell you how to sign up before we’re done. If you are in the race, are you still running, or has your run slowed to a walk? Is it possible you’re just sitting on the grass and drinking Gator Aid, while the other runners whiz past? In your worship folder this morning you will find a simple three‑point outline:
The Christian life is like a Marathon race.
Not all who enter the race will win the prize.
But all who enter the race are potential winners.
Let’s read our Scripture text–just four verses from 1 Corinthians 9:24-27:
“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 a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
The Christian life is like a Marathon race.
The Marathon race is a relatively recent phenomenon, but with very ancient roots. The first Marathon was run in the first modern Olympics in 1896 in Athens. The name of the race was borrowed from a little town northeast of Athens because of a story told by the Greek historian Herodotus centuries before Christ.
During the Persian‑Greek war in 490 B.C., a runner named Pheidippides allegedly ran 300 miles from Athens to Sparta and back to recruit soldiers to help the Athenians fight against the threatening Persians. The Spartans didn’t arrive in time, but the Greeks defeated the Persians anyway on the plain of Marathon, and the Persians withdrew to their ships. Fearing that the Persians would strike Athens by sea, just 26 miles south of Marathon, without the city knowing that their comrades had been victorious at Marathon, the Greek general sent Pheidippides, already tired from his 300 mile run, to take the news to Athens. He reached the city, gasped out, “Rejoice, we conquer!” and fell dead. That’s almost what happens to me when I run around the block.
There is something unique about the Olympic Marathon. The 26 miles, 385 yards pits man against not only his opponents, but also against the elements, and even against himself. It seems almost incredible that the human body is capable of running 26 consecutive sub‑5‑minute miles. In fact I’m not sure the human body is capable of such a feat. I’m inclined to think that the Marathon is a classic example of mind over matter, of adrenalin, determination and sheer guts telling a person he must do what his body screams at him that he cannot do. Somehow he does it. And some of you have done it. How many have started and finished a Marathon race? I take my hat off to you.
I believe it would be profitable, and quite in keeping with this passage, to compare the Christian life to the Marathon in five ways.
Both require rigorous training. (25a, 27a) No one ever ran a Marathon, much less won one, by getting up some morning and saying, “I think I’ll compete in a Marathon today.” Months and years of grueling training precede every victory in the Marathon, or even every finish. America’s last winner in the Olympic Marathon, Frank Shorter, gold medalist in 1972 in Munich, ran over 100 miles each week, getting up at 4:30 A.M., eating a special diet, and foregoing many of the pleasures most people take for granted.
Paul describes this rigorous training in verse 25: “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.” The verb here is the Greek word, agonidzomai. We get our English word “agony” from the same root, which indicates something of the pain and effort that goes into training. You’ve heard the phrase, “No pain–no gain.” Every great athlete knows what that means. He doesn’t break training, though often tempted to, for he knows that for every day out of training it takes 3 to get back to where he was. He doesn’t yield to the pleasures of the moment, for he has his eyes on a goal.
As John MacArthur puts it,
“Most people, including many Christians, are … slaves to their bodies. Their bodies tell their minds what to do. Their bodies decide when to eat, what to eat, how much to eat, when to sleep and get up, and so on. An athlete cannot allow that. He follows the training rules, not his body. He runs when he would rather be resting, he eats a balanced meal when he would rather have a chocolate sundae, he goes to bed when he would rather stay up, and he gets up early to train when he would rather stay in bed. An athlete leads his body, he does not follow it. It is his slave, not the other way around.” [i]
The application to the Christian life should be obvious. Just as it takes rigorous training, self‑discipline and self‑denial to be a good physical athlete, so it takes the same sort of dedication to be a spiritual athlete. Just as the Marathon runner denies himself many lawful pleasures, so the Christian must avoid anything that hinders his complete effectiveness. Can you see now the connection of this passage with chapter 8 and the first part of chapter 9? There Paul exhorted us to be willing to surrender even our legitimate rights when it’s better for our Christian witness.
In perusing the Scriptures regarding the rigorous training needed for effective Christian living, I found at least four areas where training is necessary.
1. Training in the Word. Consider Heb. 5:11‑14, particularly verse 14: “Solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” The Greek term for “train” here is gumnadzo, from which we get our English word, “gymnastics.” One key part of our spiritual gymnastics is eating the right kind of food–the solid food of the Word. Can we ever expect to get in shape spiritually if we pick up our Bible off the shelf on Sunday morning, dust it off, take it to church, and then put it back on the shelf Sunday afternoon?
Our Men’s Fraternity, attended now by about forty men every Wednesday morning at 6:30, has as its goal getting men into the Scriptures at least 5 days a week. Our Women’s Ministries, Bible Study Fellowship, and Community Bible Study have similar goals. Our Small Churches and Community Groups offer other training opportunities, as all have a primary focus on God’s Word. Friends, this book is our spiritual food. We cannot grow if we do not read it regularly.
2. Training in prayer. I think of Daniel, who prayed three times a day, even when his life was threatened. He was so disciplined in his training that his enemies acknowledged that “we will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.” That’s pretty amazing. There was nothing in his personal life, nothing in his financial life, nothing in his work life, and nothing in his social life that would call into question his integrity or character. The only charge that could be brought against him was that he was consistent in his walk with God. He prayed fervently and persistently, without fail.
3. Training in trials and discipline. Heb. 12:11 tells us that, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” There is a world of difference between the outlook of those who see trials as experiences to learn from and grow by, and those who view trials as enemies and as evidence that God doesn’t care. I’ll bet half the people in the audience this morning are going through a major trial right now. The question is, do we see those trials as obstacles to spiritual growth or opportunities for growth?
If I may share something personal, most of you know I was in a bizarre auto accident 7 ½ ago when a horse came through the windshield of my car, flipping the car over and pinning me beneath the horse and car. The broken bones all healed fairly well, but there were lasting effects on my short-term memory that were very frustrating to me. I had a nearly world-class ability to remember names before 1993. Today that ability is virtually gone. I know the names of virtually all of you who were part of this church before 1993, but it is very difficult for me to remember new names today. This has been very hard to adjust to, but one of the things God showed me is that I was proud of my memory. I relied on it sometimes instead of relying on Him.
Well, there’s nothing for me to be proud of today in that regard. God humbled me through that. And frankly, I don’t want to give Him reason to humble me any further. I definitely wouldn’t want to go through that experience again, but honestly, I wouldn’t want to trade it; I am a better person because of it. I believe every trial we face can do that for us if we will view it as part of our training.
4. Training in godly living. In 1 Tim. 4:7-8 Paul talks about this kind of training: “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” I know Christians who are fanatical about physical training. One guy I know spends several hours a day at the gym, takes over 40 pills a day (supplements, herbs, you name it), drinks anti-toxins, and has declared his intention of living to be 100. That’s all OK, but his spiritual life is in shambles.
How does a guy like that get back in the race? Well, God has his ways. I hate to contemplate it, but it may take a horse to wake him up; I hope he doesn’t wait for that to happen. Far better if he would listen to what God is saying to us today and engage in a wholesale reorientation of his priorities.
The second comparison I’d like to offer between the Marathon and the Christian life is that …
Both demand a deliberate strategy. To the average layperson, an Olympic race is just a matter of speed and endurance. But that’s not really the case at all. Neither the fastest runner nor the strongest athlete always wins. Sometimes it’s the smartest who wins. Paul speaks of strategy in the Christian life in verse 26, alluding not only to running but also another Olympic sport, namely boxing. “I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.”
He runs, but not aimlessly, not without a strategy. Frank Shorter was famous for sudden, sustained bursts of speed, which separated him from the field and demoralized his competition. Other great runners have learned the secret of the “second wind”–hidden resources deep within them that can be called upon when they “hit the wall.” That’s what I mean when I speak of running smart–with a pre-set strategy in mind.
Switching to the other Olympic metaphor, Paul says he also boxes, but not as one who beats the air. Some of us are great shadow‑boxers. We make loud noises about our faith when we’re in the church, but when we get out into the world, the real boxing ring, we never land a blow for Christ. In fact, many of us are so ill-prepared, we are a sitting duck for the sucker punches landed by those who deny the faith!
There’s one other verse I think we should look at in regard to strategy. Heb. 12:1 reads, “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Imagine running a Marathon with 5-lb weights in your shoes or carrying your Gator Aid in a pack on your back! Yet Christians often weigh themselves down with materialism and possessions, with sinful habits, with harmful relationships, with guilty consciences, and with sinful attitudes, like bitterness and lack of forgiveness. Frankly, I know several gifted individuals who have been out of the race for years because of bitterness and a failure to forgive. What weight are you carrying around today that is keeping you from running effectively? When are you planning to dump it?
So far we have looked at two ways in which the Christian life is like a Marathon race. Both require rigorous training and both require a deliberate strategy in order to break through the wall and finish strong!
Both necessitate extraordinary endurance. Stamina is probably the single most important factor in Marathon racing. These runners are not sprinters. Most of them would not be competitive in any race under five miles. But when it comes to the long haul, they have the stamina and the endurance to last. As we stated before, the Christian life is not a 100‑yard dash; it is what Eugene Petersen calls, “a long obedience in the same direction.” God is looking for the steady climber, the growing disciple, the one who breaks through with a “second wind,” a third, and then a fourth.
The Bible has a lot to say about endurance. In Heb. 11:27 we are told that, “By faith Moses left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.” In James 1:12 we read, “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” James 5:11 adds, “As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseveranceand have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”
Both require playing by the rules. (2 Tim. 2:5) There aren’t very many rules for a Marathon race, but there are some, and runners have been disqualified for violations.[ii] In the 1912 Olympics Jim Thorpe became the only man to ever win the pentathlon and the decathlon, but his medals were taken away when it was determined he had committed a minor infraction of the rules, years before regarding his amateur status. Chances are the decision to strip him of his medals was motivated by racism, since Thorpe was a native American, but technically he did break the rules, and he paid dearly for it.
In 2 Tim. 2:5 Paul elaborates on this principle of obedience to rules. He says, “If anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules.” A man can run faster and with greater endurance than all the others and reach the finish line first, buthe will still lose the race if he violates the rules. Our Rule Book is the Law of Christ, consisting of God’s moral law from the Ten Commandments, plus other principles and instructions laid down in the New Testament. These laws are not numerous, as were the laws Moses gave in the OT. Neither are they arbitrary, or burdensome. God’s laws are designed exclusively for our benefit and our happiness over the long haul. But we must observe them if we would win the prize.
I can’t help but think of Eric Liddell, the subject of the great movie, Chariots of Fire. Although I disagree with his interpretation of the 4th Commandment, the Sabbath Commandment, I stand in awe of his spiritual courage, fortitude and obedience to what he believed were the rules, and I firmly believe he won the race God set before him.
Both yield a coveted prize. The prize for the modern Olympics is a gold medallion. Though costly in itself, it is not coveted for its inherent value but rather for its symbolic value. It represents the highest achievement in the world of sports. Men and women have devoted years of their lives to the sole pursuit of one of those medals.
In ancient times the prize for a win at the Olympics or the Isthmian games was of even less inherent value–it was merely a pine wreath. Paul refers to it in verse 25: “They do it to get a crown that will not last.” Some translations read, “to receive a perishable wreath.” It had no lasting value, no eternal dimension. And that’s still true of athletic awards today. There is no Super Bowl ring that can resist tarnishing or that won’t melt when the earth is finally destroyed by fire, no endorsement contracts that won’t expire. True, the pro athlete can make a lot of money, but that too is temporary.
Not so for the Christian runner! In verse 25 Paul adds, “but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” Think of it. Forever is a long time! His reasoning is this: if Olympic runners will go through rigorous training, learn strategy, endure the pain, and carefully observe the rules all for a pine wreath or similar perishable prize, how much more should we Christians exert ourselves for an imperishable prize!
What is the believer’s prize? Is it immortality? Is it Heaven? Is that what we are striving so hard to attain? I think not. As I mentioned earlier, the Bible never teaches that Heaven can be achieved by works. Paul is assuming that his readers are born again by faith in Christ and already on their way to heaven. In Phil. 3:14 Paul says, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
God has a calling for every believer, a task He wants done, a message He wants shared. And the goal or prize of the race is to accomplish that calling and receive God’s commendation. Not only that, there is reward in this life as well. Jesus said He came to give us abundant life now, not just eternal life in heaven.
At the end of his own life Paul evaluated the race he had run, and in 2 Tim. 4:7,8 he said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”
Let me ask a really tough question of each of us: What would keep you from getting the prize if you stood before the Lord today. What would He say to you about how you have run the race? Do you need to make some changes now so there will be no regrets then?
So far we have seen that the Christian life is like a Marathon race in five key areas.
Now I want us to briefly observe two other points.
Not all who enter the race will win the prize. (9:24a, 27b)
In verse 24 Paul observes that “all the runners run, but only one gets the prize.” In an Olympic Marathon there may be dozens of runners, but only one gold medal is given. Is Paul trying to say that only one believer out of the millions running the race will receive God’s commendation? No, we must be careful not to push the athletic analogy too far. This is a race we run shoulder to shoulder with our brothers and sisters, not against them. What Paul is warning us about is that there are some in the race who are not going to get the prize, and they are going to fail, not because someone else beat them to the finish line, but because they failed to meet God’s standards and goals for their lives.
Paul expands upon this in verse 27: “I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” I don’t think Paul was a masochist. I don’t think he’s talking about self-affliction or self-deprivation. He’s talking about making his body serve the mission for which he was put on this earth, rather than having his body control his mission.
The great tragedy Paul wanted to avoid was disqualification after having preached to others. That is a legitimate fear, for there have been many great preachers who have fallen out of the race. But friends, the pulpit is not the only place preaching is done. Your life is a living sermon to all who know you. God calls all of us to proclaim the Gospel–through verbal witness and through lifestyle, and the danger of disqualification is as great for a layman as it is for a pastor.
I was talking to a dear lady recently. With tears she told me of her husband, who has walked away from the Lord and the church and is planning to leave his family. She said to him, “I don’t understand. You led me to Christ. You led our children to the Lord. You have taught the Scriptures for years, and now you’re doing this?” We all know that such behavior, if persisted in, will lead to disqualification. But do we as readily recognize the myriad of daily small life-choices that we make that can cumulatively disqualify us? The little foxes also spoil the vines, too.
A number of factors can lead to spiritual disqualification, and the Scriptures warn us about all of them: laziness, materialism, rebellion, sin, prayerlessness, pride, to name just a few. Demas, a short-term disciple of Paul, was disqualified because he “loved this present world.” Solomon was disqualified because he allowed his love for women to outweigh his love for God. Samson was disqualified because he allowed lust to control him. I’m not suggesting that all of these individuals went to hell. Some of them may be in heaven, but they clearly did not run the race well, nor did they live up to the goals God set for them or their own potential. None of them heard God’s “well done.” What is in your life today that could disqualify you at or before the end of the race?
We come now to the last point, namely that while not all who enter the race will win the prize, nevertheless …
All who enter the race are potential winners. (24b)
The Scriptures do not tell us to do things that cannot be done, and we are told in verse 24: “Run in such a way as to get the prize.” If a believer loses this race it is not because he had no chance, or because he faced temptations that were too strong, or because someone else beat him to the finish line. We are in a spiritual battle and the enemy we compete against is Satan. And if we lose, it is because we failed to appropriate the power available to us to live the Christian life in a manner pleasing to God. We failed to use the resources He has made available, the chief of which is the indwelling Holy Spirit.
When I suggest that we are all potential winners I do not mean the same kind of potential you find in a Reader’s Digest Sweepstakes, like one in 7 million that you will win a prize. Thank God, there’s no arbitrary limit to the number who can win the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Conclusion. In conclusion, may we reiterate the obvious? Olympic gold medals are never achieved by accident or by wishful thinking or by half‑hearted endeavor. By the same token, no one achieves the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus this way either. Sadly, the church of Jesus Christ is full of people who refuse to train, who run by their own rules, who have no strategy, and who expect God to say at the end, “That’s OK. You tried. You did your best.” It won’t happen, friends. We will reap what we sow, and the only way to reap God’s commendation of faithfulness is to run the race faithfully and diligently, so as to finish strong.
Paul has been talking in this passage to those who have qualified for the race by virtue of their faith in Jesus Christ. But there may be some here this morning who have never even entered the spiritual Olympics. You may be running like a crazy person; you may be working up a tremendous religious sweat; you may be trying to keep all the rules; but if you have never received Jesus Christ personally into your life, you’re not even in the race.
Jesus said in Matt. 7:13-14: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
The road to life is as narrow as a cross. In fact, it is the cross. Jesus died for you. He paid the penalty of your sin and offers you the free gift of eternal life. He only asks that you put your faith and trust in Him. That’s how you join the race. You win by enduring, by persevering, and by finishing strong.
DATE: April 8, 2001
Tags:
Perseverance
Marathon
Training
Rewards
[i]. John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, First Corinthians, 215.
[ii]. In the 1972 Olympics in Munich the track and field events in the stadium had been largely concluded by 5pm on September 10, and since no German runners were among the leaders, only intermittent information about the race had been announced over the public address system. Then from the marathon tunnel there appeared a small athletic figure dashing out onto the track. It brought the expected roar of applause befitting the next marathon gold medalist.
But it was not Frank Shorter, who had been in the lead since midway through the race. It was Norbert Sudhaus, a 22-year-old West German student, wearing number 72. He had waited in a car outside the stadium, chose an opportune moment, slipped through the crowd, dashed onto the course, and was quickly mistaken as a bona fide athlete. When Shorter entered the stadium, fully expecting cheers for his effort, he instead heard jeering and whistling, as the crowd now realized that number 72 was a cruel fake. Sudhaus, who had done his deed as a joke, is remembered in ignominy for his nasty deed. The one who breaks the rules does not get the prize.