People are serious about sports and their teams. Seriousness is an attribute, but it must be balanced.
Most people love watching sports
and glorify their teams that win. If their team loses, they become dismal. Although
most watch the race but never participate, they are watchers, not
runners, bicyclers, or ball players. To be a runner, you must run. Those who
run that you watch are running for themselves and not for you. They get the
glory, but you feed off the glory that they receive as if it is you who won the
sport.
You need to get serious. You are
only a watcher and have no ability to help win or lose, especially if you
remain comfortable at home. The best that you can do is to cheer them on, and
that makes you only a ‘cheerleader,’ not a player!
Excellence in sports requires
much practice. Nobody hits a homerun the first time at bat, and a new runner is
left far behind by those who have developed stamina. Sports fans must even
enjoy the efforts of those who are naturally better than themselves. Those who
win must always give all they have to obtain.
Spectators often love the sport but
never put out the effort for themselves to achieve. The nature of man is to love
the sport, but not enough to seriously participate.
Those successful runners were not
the best in the beginning but through years of practice, they become the best. Few
are born ‘supermen’ but some approach that with practice.
One of the most notable events in
the 20th century, and maybe even any age, was when Roger Bannister
broke the time barrier as he ran faster than a four-minute mile.
Bannister only began to run at
age seventeen. Before he ever broke the time barrier, he ran to win in many
events. He saw the four minutes as possible as if it was already his, and after
running for several years, he won the prize. He saw the goal, not as a barrier,
but as already achieved. He ran hard and credited it tom never looking back. He
cared little where his opponents might be but saw himself as already there.
Bannister ran in the 1952
Olympiad but never achieved his goal. He did not give up! When least expected
he broke the limit of four minutes in 1954 in a meet between the British AAA
and Oxford University. It is said that he added graphite to his spiked track shoes
so the cinders on the track would not hinder him.
In a spiritual sense, he did not
ignore the world but made his shoes swifter to have the advantage, not against
his competitors, but to overcome at least some small part of the world. His
race was not against his fellow runners but the barrier that most thought was
impossible to overcome… time.
Spiritually speaking, the Christian
is an Olympic sportsman and the Olympiad is running the race for the prize.
Wisely, Bannister, like the good
runner, prepared for the race, “your feet shod with the preparation of the
gospel of peace” and he did just that with the graphite on his running spikes. The
cinders of the track would not hold him back, and as such, Bannister was no
longer worried about the collection of cinders to slow him down. In other
words, there would not be any trials with the track, but only between himself
and his performance.
‘Peace’ is just that; the world
having little affect on the runner. The best that Bannister could do, not
having the capacity to control the strong winds that day, was to shoe himself
with wisdom.
Obviously, the apostle Paul had
seen the Olympiad in his travels for he used running as the allegory for following
Jesus.
Usually, any race is competitive;
and there is more than one runner. The Olympiads had more than one winner,
awarding different ‘crowns’ (medals) for various performances, but only one
wins the gold medal!
Paul wrote, “Know you not that
they which run in a race run all, but one receives the prize? So run, that you
may obtain” (1 Cor 9:24).
Roger Bannister came to mind because
his race was not against competitors; he did not care about their performances
but his own. He ran to beat the four-minute hurdle that had always been there. He
could have given up, as he planned to do, after the 1952 Olympiad, but he kept
on running, not to make a name for himself, but to overcome the limitations of
the world. Four minutes, every one ‘knew’ for sure, could never be broken.
However, Bannister beat it by less than two seconds. It did not matter how much
he beat time, but that he beat it. The same goes for eternity.
That second or two was not much
but was all that it took to do the ‘impossible.’ With the barrier overcome, it
has now been broken by others. If Roger could do it, what would hinder others?
Nothing but themselves and the world.
Sportsmen now even shave their
legs to reduce drag as they run, swim, and bicycle. They all do things to
diminish the effects of the world that would impede their performances.
Now, consider Christians. The
prize is still time; not for breaking any records, but the goal is
eternal life. It matters not how much time it takes to obtain the reward; even
late runners can run the race for the dash to the finish line. For eternal life
— the ‘prize — “Many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first”
(Mat 19:30). The runners may be successful runners or poor. It does not depend
on them, but their inherited abilities; it is not of themselves, perhaps
in contrast to Bannister, but of God.
To run the race, the race must be
entered, just as Paul wrote. The ‘entry’ is trusting God for your own
performance. It is seeing yourself as able to obtain, not by your own
performance, but by Divine Virtue that is engendered into your innermost being.
Jesus knew much about Olympiads
as well. Whereas modern time is based on Him, time before Christ was based on
the year of the Olympiad. It was not only 6 BC when Jesus was born but the 193rd
Olympiad.
Time was based on perfection of the runners, and according to Josephus, because the Olympians competed naked, and because it was a pagan event, to enter the race, Jews had to conceal their circumcision. They were essentially still Jews inwardly but Greeks outwardly. How they did that is unknown, but circumcision prevented many Jews from running races in those Olympiads. Paul wrote to the Romans, who were also Olympians, the following advice:
He is not a Jew, which
is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart,
in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. (Rom 2:28-29)
The Jews concealed their lack of
foreskins so that they would not be ridiculed. Perhaps, they grew hair to conceal
it, or wore camel’s hair to hide their shame. Whatever they did, Paul saw through
their efforts to hide their true identities, for him, “He is a Jew, which is
one inwardly.”
They could run the race without
shame because their hearts were inward and beyond notice. They could endeavor
to change their genetics outwardly, but whatever they did, they remained Jews
inwardly because their hearts (souls) were the true runners.
Jews competed in the ancient Olympics
and still do in the modern. They are still runners in the race and have won 459
medals from 1896 to 2021 (Jew Virtual Library). [1]
Everybody that runs in the race
are runners, but to run the Christian race, one must qualify. He must be a Jew
inwardly, albeit even a Christian outwardly.
Jews are God’s chosen and
peculiar people (Deut 14:2), and all the other runners must be as well (1 Pet
2:9).
The qualification for even
running the race to eternal life is to be ‘born again;’ that instills within
the runner the Power of God. Jesus said, if it had been in English, “Marvel not,
you must be born again” (John 3:7).
Don’t be surprised; the runner
must be qualified to enter the race. What must he do? Nothing, but stay
still and God qualifies the runner.
Jesus spoke Greek. H really said,
“gennao anothen” — “gendered from the beginning”
Remember, you are not running to
compete, but for time. Just like Roger Bannister ran for the time, so
runs the Christian. Of course, his time was temporal but yours to beat eternity.
Many belong to churches that do not
teach the necessity of rebirth (born again). You may be in the race for eternal
life, but you are not numbered.
I ran the Bowling Green 10k event
one year, as if I was a registered runner, just because I had run officially so
many times before. Without a number that could be recognized, I was officially
not even a runner. I did not stand a chance to even officially finish the race,
let alone be timed and recorded as a finisher in their reports. I did not even
look for my name in the paper to see how I faired, because it was as if I had
never run the race. I had not qualified to even run by paying the entry fee or pinning
my number to my shirt. I was running in vain as if I had not run.
Rebirth (born again) is the
beginning of the race. God makes you an official runner and provides to you, entry
to the race. Paul said, “So run that you may obtain.” You do that by God engendering
you to qualify the race. Without the Genome, or Spirit of God, within you, your
running, like mine was that time, is in vain.
Rebirth is not biological nor physical
in any manner. It is a decision to be a runner to even qualify for the race to
the final prize — to live forever and be glorified, as most Olympiads are.
Imagine if you will, the 193rd
Olympiad, and you running naked like all the other runners. Suppose you came in
first, second, or even third and stand there on your pedestal. Indeed, you have
made a name for yourself, if you are Jewish, but when the camouflage is
removed, it is revealed that you were not even an official runner. You may be a
runner outwardly, but inwardly you are nothing but a Jew. Your God won but only
in Spirit; he did not win in the flesh because you have not been engendered by
Jesus.
You, although you won a medal, it
will do no good because you are not a legitimate runner. You may even have a
number on your wrist or in your mind, but you tried to cheat the system.
Unknown is how many runners were
Jewish during the 193rd Olympiad, but we do know that was the year
that God came in the flesh for anyone to run as if God was running in their
place.
My hope is that you enter the race,
legitimately. “You must be born again.” You cannot do that yourselves, but Jesus
is “Yahweh’s Deliverer.” You must
see Him, the Christ, as God in the flesh. It is not physical work that you do, by
training for the race, but asking God to perform for you. Jesus is the Power of
God in the flesh, and as such, Jesus must endow you with His Power.
The Power of Jesus is Virtue that
goes from Him to you. In the Greek, ‘Virtue’ is dynamis — the miraculous
Power of Jesus. It is receiving the dynamics (forces of motion) of Jesus
in your being. He becomes the runner inside of you and your flesh just an impedance
to even finishing the race. As such, rebirth is Jesus overcoming the world (John
16:33) so that you can run without all the effects of the world hindering you.
Bannister did it with graphite;
you must do so with ‘Living Water’ — the Holy Spirit — as if the earth has no
effects on you.
Jesus demonstrated the Power of
faith when He walked on water. He knew that He had overcome the world. Peter
had faith to see that it was possible, but not enough faith to do it on his
own. Jesus had to take him by the hand and pull him to the finish line… back to
the boat. Peter had enough faith to enter the feat, but not enough to get all
the Way to Christ. He soon saw that he had not depended on Jesus but his own
power, and in that contest, Jesus got him all the Way to safety.
Peter got serious when he entered
the water. He did not even try swimming because Jesus was the example on how to
remain safe. The turbulence, for a while, never impeded him; it was the ‘graphite’
on his sandals that kept him up.
When he took his eyes off Jesus,
he was swamped and quicky his faith fell away. The point is that Peter took his
eyes off Jesus and did that often. All the time, Jesus kept him safe, but then
he too was crucified. As it turned out, with Jesus gone, Peter kept his eyes on
the Cross that was left behind, and that saved him in the end.
Peter was serious about Jesus. He
was as serious about finishing the race that Jesus won for him — to eternity.
just as Bannister was to defeat time using his own endurance.
Born again is when a sinner first
gets serious about Jesus. That we are all destined to die but there is an opportunity
to live forever. The runner to the prize cannot run part of the race but all
the way to the finish line, “He that endures to the end shall be saved” (Mat 10:22).
All the runners must run and run with seriousness and even with much hardship.
We must endure what? “Blessed is
the man that endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the
crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love Him” (Jas 1:12).
Blessed is winning the prize. Bannister
won the prize, not in competition with other runners but himself against time.
He endured the race to the end. Four minutes to run a mile required stamina,
strength, speed, and endurance. He overcame the limitations of the world. He
did so, perhaps, by his own power.
Sir Roger Bannister was a
lifelong Christian, and he made a name for both himself and Christ. He is now a
‘lord’ but Jesus, during the race for eternal life, was Lord of lords. Jesus as
well have won the race for Sir Roger because he credited Christ for his strength.
We all need to be serious. Bannister
won the race, but it is well known that he was a Christian. His prize was not
defeating the time limit but receiving time without limit. His prize was eternal
time because it was as if Jesus was running for him.
So, you love sports? You have a
choice, you know? You can either be a spectator and watch for the thrill of it
all, while others run and win, or you can win yourself by running with enthusiasm
and perseverance. You must be serious about running and even more serious about
running hard!
The problem with so many
Christians is that they are spectators who watch for Christ to hand them the
prize but even fail to reach out to receive it. So many take the Name of God in
vain; not even realizing that the crucifixion of Jesus was Him handing you the ‘baton’
of the Cross to run after Him all the Way there.
So many love the sport of it all,
and even the rituals associated with entry, but then fail to run the race in
seriousness. They have good intentions but as soon as the running gets hard,
like poor sportsmen, they abandon the ‘team’ that goes on to win without us.
Most who call themselves ‘Christians’
are merely spectators to the universal ‘Olympiad.’ They have never entered the
race for life at all but expect it for merely watching God’s Team overcome the
forces of evil. You must be part of that; watching the race is not you that is winning
it!
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