The Christian Olympics

Every four years athletes from all over the world converge on a city and compete against each other for the honors of being the best in their chosen sports.

I've been watching some of the Olympic coverage and as an American of course I am rooting for my countrymen. Imagine being so dominant in a sport that all other nations train their sites on you. They give themselves in their training to one pursuit and goal only, to beat you. I cannot imagine the pressure on an athlete like that on the American swimmer Michael Phelps. And yet in the middle of all that stress, he has risen above the challenge and has dominated in every race. As of this writing he has won 7 Gold Medals with one more race to go. AMAZING!

As I have pondered the events of this past week, I couldn't help but draw some parallels between the Olympic games and the Christian life. It is no wonder that the Apostle Paul used sports to illustrate and pound home some of his most important points about being a Christian. Sports can provide excellent analogies for conveying spiritual truth.

The Olympics are made up of individual and team events. Individual events recognize that specialization in one event fits some people's personality, gifting, talents and abilities. In one sense, they are competing against the world, but also against themselves. It is not unusual for an athlete to get her personal best time or performance on the world stage of the Olympics and yet place poorly in the competition. Here is where the parallel with the Christian life gets interesting. Sometimes your personal best isn't enough to win. So then, the victory is not just in getting the medal, but in knowing that you have done your best.

In team sports, an athlete has to contribute his best so that collectively the group can be better than the competition. For example, in basketball your point guard may not be as good as their point guard but it is offset by your forward or center being better than the center on the other team. Your point guard only has to be good enough to disrupt the flow of the ball player from the other team to give the advantage to your side. The synergy and chemistry of the team can be better than the sum of its parts. Scripture teaches that we are members of the Body and the Body functions best when all members contribute thereby maximizing strengths and minimizing weaknesses. Christianity is a team sport.

Christians are called to individual and team effort. Paul reminds us that we must "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Simply put, there are no other team members who can help you in certain trials, temptations or tasks. God expects you to perform at optimum skill level trusting that He will supply the needed tools to accomplish His purposes.

On the other hand we are reminded that we are interdependent on one another so that a "threefold cord will not be broken." There is strength in coordinated and cooperative effort.

I hope we can be inspired by the preparation, effort and courage, expended by these athletes. Most of us know that the Haitian team will probably not win any medals. They have none in their entire history. This poverty stricken country has few athletes and are ill equipped, poorly trained and outspent. Yet they manage to show up for the games every 4 years to represent their country. It is a reminder that you can only determine where you are in the international standings by competing with and comparing yourself to the very best.

While the goal for all Olympians is to win the gold, usually there is only one winner in every event. The rest get their satisfaction from knowing that they competed and gave their very best. Effort is the measure all athletes are ultimately judged by. The Apostle Paul recognized this when he stated the obvious, that only one receives the prize. But all should run with winning in mind.

"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 win." (1 Cor. 9:4)

I hope these Olympics inspire you to run the Christian race to win!