More Than Gold • 6
Read 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.
I can relate a bit better to the runners this week than could to the swimmers last week at the Rio games. But I still can't imagine running as fast as they do. And jumping over the hurdles? While running? Forget about it! Last night, they were talking about athletes who, as soon as they finish their Olympic games, were headed back to college to get ready for football or other fall sports. So not only do they excel in track and field, they focus on other sports throughout the year. How do they do it? I pondered that as I went to the kitchen to get a piece of pie for a snack.
Okay, not really. There was no pie in the kitchen last night. But I did wonder about it, as I wished for pie. You get my point: to excel to the point where they are in the Olympic games has required these athletes to strictly discipline themselves (less pie than I eat), to focus on the sport and to basically do nothing else. Morning, noon, and night, they are at the gym, the pool or the track, training and training and training. Ever seeking to get better. Ever striving to be the best.
Paul writes about such discipline, though Paul likely wasn't that interested in running an actual race. He is writing to the Corinthians, a place which hosted the Isthmian games, a set of games in the ancient world modeled after the Olympic games. The people there knew what athletes had to go through. They knew about discipline, even if they didn't practice is always themselves. Paul wants them to take that same knowledge, that same spirit, and apply it to their spiritual lives. As important as these athletes see the prize (the "crown") they are working toward, you should see the "prize" of eternal life as even more important—the most important prize. Discipline is as important—even more important—in the spiritual life as it is in the athletic life.
The regimen and dedication these athletes give to their sport—do we give the same sort of discipline to the development of our spirit? I knew a guy once who seemed to be, at one time, a dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ. Then he got into bodybuilding, began going to contests, and suddenly his life became all about sculpting his body, winning the contests, posting nearly naked pictures of himself...it became all about him. Now, I'm not saying there is anything inherently wrong with bodybuilding. The question that always must be asked (that I've asked before in this series) is this: are we worshipping the creation or the creator? Paul puts our priorities this way: he wants to do what is necessary so that, after having preached the good news to others, he doesn't find himself disqualified. He wants his life to match his speech. He wants his priorities to show through in the discipline he exercises.
What are you disciplined about?
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| Corinth, Greece - 2014 - seating for a theater or stadium |
Okay, not really. There was no pie in the kitchen last night. But I did wonder about it, as I wished for pie. You get my point: to excel to the point where they are in the Olympic games has required these athletes to strictly discipline themselves (less pie than I eat), to focus on the sport and to basically do nothing else. Morning, noon, and night, they are at the gym, the pool or the track, training and training and training. Ever seeking to get better. Ever striving to be the best.
Paul writes about such discipline, though Paul likely wasn't that interested in running an actual race. He is writing to the Corinthians, a place which hosted the Isthmian games, a set of games in the ancient world modeled after the Olympic games. The people there knew what athletes had to go through. They knew about discipline, even if they didn't practice is always themselves. Paul wants them to take that same knowledge, that same spirit, and apply it to their spiritual lives. As important as these athletes see the prize (the "crown") they are working toward, you should see the "prize" of eternal life as even more important—the most important prize. Discipline is as important—even more important—in the spiritual life as it is in the athletic life.
The regimen and dedication these athletes give to their sport—do we give the same sort of discipline to the development of our spirit? I knew a guy once who seemed to be, at one time, a dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ. Then he got into bodybuilding, began going to contests, and suddenly his life became all about sculpting his body, winning the contests, posting nearly naked pictures of himself...it became all about him. Now, I'm not saying there is anything inherently wrong with bodybuilding. The question that always must be asked (that I've asked before in this series) is this: are we worshipping the creation or the creator? Paul puts our priorities this way: he wants to do what is necessary so that, after having preached the good news to others, he doesn't find himself disqualified. He wants his life to match his speech. He wants his priorities to show through in the discipline he exercises.
What are you disciplined about?
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