Running To Win?
By Kenny McKinley
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
(Read 1st Corinthians 9:24-27)
The other day I got my Sports Illustrated magazine in the mail, and they told me that my subscription was about to run out. Which kind of got me a little anxious because the only reason that I get Sports Illustrated is for the football articles that they have, during football season. And football season is just around the corner, so I couldn’t have my subscription running out. So I renewed my subscription, and my wife just shook her head. Now early Christians didn’t have had a Superbowl Sunday, but they did know a thing or two about athletic contests. After all, that was the part of the world where the Olympics began. And I’m sure that even back then, they had wives who just shook their heads wondering why men got so excited over such things.
Athletic contests can be important though. It’s true. In fact, the apostle Paul even used athletic competition to illustrate spiritual truths. And the principles that apply to athletics can also apply to living the Christian life.
Now during football season on any given Sunday, two teams will square off on a field. Each man on the field will be playing to win. But there is more to winning than what we see on that day. The outcome of the game will be the result of a process begun a long time ago.
The same is true of the Christian life. If we desire to win at life as a Christian then we must apply the same principles that athletes apply. After all, our Christian life has been described as a race and to warfare. The goal in a race or in warfare is to win, not to come in third. This is especially true if you are in a war! So, if you are in this race to win, then maybe we should listen to what Paul tells us in our text.
Those who were in Corinth were familiar with the Greek games. They had seen the athletic contests and races. They knew the dedication of the runners and the prize the winner received. Paul takes this illustration and applies it to the race we run as Christians. He is giving us a blueprint for success. He is telling us how we can play to win.
First we have to be determined.
“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it”. (9:24)
Why does Paul compare the Christian life to a race? In other places, the Christian life is compared to a pilgrimage, and a walk. But here it is compared to a race. The same idea is probably behind this, as when the Christian life is compared to warfare, or a fight. It is the idea that we are engaged in a strenuous activity. While a traveler can stop off at any beautiful spot along the way to rest, those engaged in a race must give it all they’ve got if they are to win.
So Paul’s saying that we are involved in hard work. And we should be. After all, we are in a race that has an eternal reward for its prize. We are in a race where eternal issue are at stake. So, if any people ought to be hard at work, we ought to be, because we are working for the things that really count.
Have you ever noticed how hard some of us work at attaining some of those material things we think will make us happy or give us pleasure? People everywhere give themselves to what is important to them. And that is the point our text makes.
The Lord is asking us to evaluate what our priorities should be. Look at the things people are working so hard to attain. They may be working for financial security. Or they may be working for business success. Some may be giving themselves to live a life of pleasure. Still others may be working for material possessions. The runner in the worldly race receives a crown that perishes. The athletes’ back then would get a pine garland for a crown. It was basically a free pass to a night on the town, and a right of bragging, but before long it was gone, and so was all that it brought for it’s winner.
But what do we receive when we run the race of the Christian life successfully? We receive an eternal reward, and imperishable crown, which never fades away. The reward for the Christian is not temporal but eternal. Our labor, our faithfulness, wins for us an enduring crown in glory. Our treasure is being laid up in heaven where no one can take it from us.
So if people work so hard for those things that are temporary, how much more should we work for those things that are eternal?
What do you think would happen to this church here if all of its members worked for the Lord as hard as they work for worldly things? And what about your own life? What could you accomplish for the Lord if you stopped seeking after the temporary and started seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness?
We have a race to run, and we need to run it to win. To do so, we must run it with determination. By that I mean that we must desire the things of God to the point where we work hard for them. We must give ourselves to the race, and not just in our spare time, but completely. We must have a desire to win. We must run the race with determination. We must be determined to succeed in our Christian life.
Second, we have to be dedicated
“And everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.” (9:25)
It takes more than determination and desire to win. It’s good to have those things, but that’s just the start. But good intentions are never enough. Someone said that prisons are full of people with good intentions.
What we must do is what the athlete has to do. We must train in such a way that will enable us to compete, but more than just compete, to win. And that will take dedication. We must run with dedication. There must be a commitment on our part to prepare, and to stick to it no matter what. We must train when we feel like it and when we don’t. Otherwise, we will fail to finish the race. We will grow weary and quit.
Weariness, after all, is a reflection of our training. Those who are in good shape grow less weary than those in poor shape.
Now sometimes we grow weary in the work as Christians and then blame it, not on ourselves, but on other things. All of us get weary. And when we are weary we need to be refreshed. But if we give adequate attention to our spiritual conditioning, then we will grow less weary and we will not let our weariness cause us to quit. Jesus never said that all would be easy. But He did promise us that He would be with us in all things. Things sometimes get tough, and that is why we need to be ready to handle them. We need to be in good spiritual shape, and to do that we must train.
So how do we train? How do we prepare? Our text says that everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. In other words, we must take charge of ourselves and prepare for the race.
Hebrews 12:1-3 says, “Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us. And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”
The first step in our preparation is that we must shed those things that slow our progress. The writer of Hebrews was also familiar with the Greek games, and he knew that the athletes would train with weights. The runners would put on weights when they ran, but when it came time to actually race, they would remove the weights. And so this passage in Hebrews is telling us to get rid of those things that are holding us back from what God would have us to do. It’s telling us to get rid of the sin in our lives because it’s tripping us up, it’s entangling us.
There are many Christians trying to run the race with the weight of sin on their backs. No wonder we get fatigued.
Many Christians are trying to see just how much of the world they can carry along with them and still finish the race. They are letting the eternal things slip by them because they are so concerned with the temporary things of this world.
The next two go together. We need to be disciplined and deliberate.
“Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight, not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body, and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” (9:26-27)
Paul was saying that he had a purpose and a goal, and he was going to do what it took to fulfil that purpose and reach that goal.
If you were to ask many people what their goal in life is, you would get all kinds of answers. Some would tell you that their goal is to be able to get ahead financially so they will be able to retire in relative comfort. Others may tell you that their goal is to put their kids through college. Some may say that their goal is to own their own business, and be their own boss. The list could go on.
All of these things are not necessarily bad things. They are things we all think about. But if you were to ask many Christians what their goal in running the Christian race is, a lot of times they just give you a blank stare. Many have never even thought about God’s purpose for their lives, and even sometimes when they know that God has a purpose they never take the time to figure out what it is. But we must clearly see the goal. And we must keep the goal in sight.
What is the goal? Well, the goal is Jesus.
When I say that Jesus is the goal, I am only saying what Hebrews has already said. We are to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. In other words, Jesus is both the end and the means to that end. He is both the goal of the race and the power by which we run. He is the author of our faith; He gives us the faith by which we run. And He is the finisher of our faith; He brings us to the place of maturity, of Christ-likeness.
Practically speaking, Jesus is our goal in that we must be committed to become like Him. That is the reason we run. We are being conformed into His image. That is the purpose of God for every believer, to be molded in character, disposition, nature, heart, and will into the image of Christ, who is the image of God.
A lot of times we think of heaven as our goal, but actually heaven is already guaranteed to you if you’re a believer. If you’re a Christian, heaven is your home, it’s already yours, but we still have a race to run.
So to be like Jesus is our goal. As we look to Jesus, as we fix our eyes on Him, if we focus on His will and His ways, He gives us the strength to run the race that’s set before you. He gives you the power to run and not grow weary, to walk and not faint.
We are told in Hebrews to look to Jesus. Look at what He suffered so we would not grow weary and lose heart. Look at what He endured at the hands of sinful men. Surely, if we see what He endured for us, we should be willing to give our all for Him. He has shown us it will take our all. And He has committed to us that He will give us His power to overcome. After all, He has already given us His all.
To win in the race we must be determined, dedicated, disciplined, and deliberate.
ALTER CALL
