Village Schools of the Bible

GO FOR THE GOLD!
Passion...a Key to Spiritual Success
by Monty Sholund

Every Olympic year is a special one, as it pays tribute to the ancient Greek celebration of physical prowess and gives opportunity for today's youth to seek the glory of the gold. The original Olympic games predated the Apostle Paul by several centuries. It is fascinating to see how constantly he uses games and tests to illustrate great spiritual truths. As we study his use of this theme, we can easily see how the principles surfaced are as applicable today as they were two thousand years ago.

As we will see in several stimulating Scriptures, it becomes obvious that Paul discriminates between the work of a servant merely doing his duty and the servant determined to do his task to the best of his ability. In all the Scriptures, Colossians 3:23,24 might well have been Paul's principle for successful living. It can be ours as well...

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

One of our best students this year, Teresa Walker, suggested that Paul was alert to taking advantage of people's interests in witnessing for Christ, including sports, and she gathered together several verses which illustrate this fact.

Let's examine a few specific illustrations which show how Paul would apply the above general principle to the field of athletic endeavor. Let's seek to discover in these illustrations things that motivate excellence on the race-track or in the stadium of life. And let us note how these verses emphasize the need for the athlete to be passionate about his endeavors, if he is to win the gold.

1. The desire to win the prize.

I 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.

Here Paul says clearly, "Run in such a way as to get the prize." This dramatic passage clearly refers to the Olympic games, in vs. 24, and states that the purpose of the games is to give a prize to the winner. It is well known that in the original Olympic games the contestants participated nude; as a result, only men could be spectators. The writer to the Hebrews makes allusion to this fact in Hebrews 12:1-2, 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. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus..... consider Him!

So here in I Corinthians 9, Paul says we should run in such a way so as to get a prize. He suggests that our lives should be stripped of everything that could possibly hinder us from winning the race, from winning the prize. A man who runs in the Olympics wouldn't wear a rain-coat or rubber boots or long-underwear. The first thing he does is strip himself to all but essential sports-wear so nothing can hinder him.

How valuable it is for us, who are in these spiritual Olympics, to pause, now and then, with intention and reflection and discern things in our lives that have become unnecessary baggage, hindrances for race running. In fact, we are here to run the race, laid out for us by God Himself. Paul says in Philippians 3:12, I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. The 'pressing on', the 'straining toward' describe the passion which had gripped Paul to 'win the prize'.

In fact, in his final letter to Timothy, he also refers to this race in such a striking way (4:7). 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 me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearance. In all Paul's vast and busy life, he was conscious that he was in the race, not competing with another athlete but sensing the struggle there was between his two natures, his carnal, fleshly nature and his spiritual, regenerated nature. He knew well that the nature he nurtured would be the nature that would ultimately win. Paul knew that those who become champions only have to overcome themselves.

The prize for the carnal nature would be a life wasted on self-indulgence, on accumulating baggage, on being preoccupied with prizes determined by a fallen, corrupt world. The prize for the spiritual nature would be to present before the throne of God the lives of people whom I have won for Christ, built up in Christ, encouraged in the faith, strengthened in the Word. Paul refers to this so clearly in I Thessalonians 2:19, For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy."

Paul was constantly aware of this ultimate prize, this goal worth demanding strict training, a clear purpose (not aimlessly) and a clear focus (not beating the air). He lived with eternity's values in view and refused to allow himself to settle down to the dreary, comfortable but prizeless life of a spectator, pleasantly seated on the side-lines, watching others striving to win the prize.

Obviously, if one is competing for a prize, he must compete according to the rules. The manual of the Christian is the Word of God, given to us to instruct us how to live as to please the Lord. If anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules (2 Timothy 2:5). We can see here the importance of knowing the Word of God, of allowing it to settle down as basic principles for effective living. Once the Word of God dwells in me, it will not be difficult to be guided by its principles because they become intrinsic and implicit rules of running the race, of living for the Glory of God.

2. The need to remain steadfast, never to give up.

I am sure we have all been stirred as we have watched athletes in the Olympic trials and the games and have seen how they were all marked by people who refused to give up. It is one thing to begin a race, with all the fanfare, the shouts of encouragement, the glow of being noticed and admired. It is another thing to continue in the race, when one is far from the starting line, in this long distance run, out here where there is nobody to cheer, nobody to encourage, out here miles from the finish-line. It is relatively easy to be a young believer when everybody was excited about our giving our lives to Christ and they surrounded us with loving praise. It is not so easy when one feels so alone, even in the dark caverns of ones mind where lurk demons of doubt, discouragement, unbelief, confusion, despair. It is when one is running, struggling, wrestling on in those dark valleys that the quality of faith is both tested and displayed. Anyone can begin a race, with fan-fare and flourish, but only the steadfast runner wins the prize. Paul refers to this so frequently.

I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the Gospel of God's grace. Acts 20:24

I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seem to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain.... You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? Gal. 2:2; 5:7.

Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. I vouch for him that he is working hard for you. Colossians 4:12.

3. A desire to allow God and His Word to be the referee.

We find the writer of the Hebrews reminding us in a stirring passage that it is God who is in charge of the races, and it is to Him we must all give account. The writer uses a fascinating Greek word here in Hebrews 4:13, which obviously refers to the Olympic races. The word is gumnos and it means nude or naked. It is from this Greek word we have our English word, gymnasium, the arena or the stadium where athletes compete, freed from anything that would hinder. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare (gumnos) before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Paul also stresses the importance of recognizing the Lord as the judge, the referee, who sees all things and from whom nothing can be hidden. He wonderfully uses in Colossians 3:15, a Greek word, brabeuo, which is related to the word, brabeion, which means 'umpire' or 'referee'. To my knowledge, it is used only this one time in the New Testament. Here Paul exhorts us to "let the peace of Christ rule (brabeuo, or 'blow the whistle') in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace and be thankful." In other words, if any desire, attitude or action would destroy the peace I enjoy when walking in step with the Spirit, then God 'blows the whistle'. I can know, thank God, that such behavior is forbidden, in this race of life.

Oh, how powerfully do these verses reflect Paul's passion, a key to successful participation in the race of life. I think of the sad ending of T.S. Eliot's, 'The Hollow Men', where the poet speaks of the Shadows that often destroy intention and conclusion, that tragically hinder the idea from becoming a reality. Here's how he puts it,

Between the idea and the reality,
Between the motion and the act
Falls the Shadow.

Between the conception and the creation,
Between the emotion and the response
Falls the Shadow.

Between the desire and the spasm,
Between the potency and the existence,
Between the essence and the descent
Falls the Shadow.

This is the way the world ends,
This is the way the world ends,
This is the way the world ends

Not with a bang...but a whimper.

What a tragedy to pass through this world, with God's presence and promises ours, and end it all, because of disobedience with a 'whimper.' May we allow the strong passion which marks the runners, wrestlers, athletes in the Olympic games stir us to a like passion for knowing God, enjoying God, sharing God, growing in God, as we allow to burn in us the greatest passion that anyone can know, TO KNOW THE WILL OF GOD AND GET IT DONE...NOT SOMEHOW BUT TRIUMPHANTLY.