The Finish

THIS WEEK was the second week of the Olympics, which I think is a great accomplishment on the part of the world. There's a lot of evil and conflict in the world, and it's beautiful to me that every few years we can put wars and racism aside and be united in healthy competition. It's something the whole earth can enjoy together. I often found myself rooting for other countries' heroes because they were doing great things and breaking records not only for their nations, but for humanity. Things no human has ever done quite so well. Things we can all celebrate.

The foot races were among my favorite events, and I learned a lot from what I saw. They represent the one of most ancient Olympic events, the ones the Greeks competed in thousands of years ago.

Paul used this kind of race as a symbol for how to live the Christian life. If we are honest with ourselves and with Jesus, it isn't an easy and worry-free thing to be a Christian. It is a constant effort whose success lies in each step we take, relying completely on our Lord. Jesus didn't come to make life easy, but so that we would have life and have it to the full. Persecution is involved. We are challenged to face the neediness that we are so deeply disinclined to accept.

One of the most amazing things I saw in this Olympics was a 4 x 400 relay in which a Manteo Mitchell  actually snapped a bone at the beginning of his leg of the race, yet continued running despite the pain as if nothing were wrong. He ran and passed his baton to the next runner, and the American team finished very well. He did have to be replaced for the races afterward, but he did not let his team down. He did what he was sent to do.

2 Timothy 4:7 "I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

As family in Christ, we rely on each other to each do what we have been called. God's will is done whether we cooperate or not, but He has given us a job to do. It is a blessing to get to run in this race and strive to live the life He has called us to. Because absolutely anything is possible in Him, but if we aren't obedient, we will not see the great consequences of the great things that would be possible through Him.

I am very impressed with this runner for finishing, even when his whole body told him he had to stop, even when the pain was almost too much. For Christians it's like when doubt arises, or pain comes and we don't know why God didn't prevent it, or when persecution or pressure from others becomes overwhelming. Maybe we want to stop following Christ because it would be easier not to be so different. We just can't be like everybody else once his grace has redeemed us. More often, and perhaps more dangerously, we just don't want to go after him as hard, and we look away from the supreme value of the prize of knowing Him in favor of the comfort of being loved. A lot of the time I'm guilty of that.

I know some people who were trained to be Christians when we were younger, and when I hear from them now I find that they have been persuaded that Jesus really isn't that important. They say there are many ways to God, or that there really isn't a God, and I wish I could show them every wonderful thing God shows me to let me know He is who He says He is. Many of us don't finish the race, and when I see them falling around me I pray I will be as faithful as I like to think I am.

I remember Peter, who promised that he would never deny Jesus, who said he would be arrested and die with Him if he had to. But he didn't. Instead he did exactly what Jesus  predicted, and he denied him three times before morning while He was being interrogated. Jesus took Him back. But I never want to be guilty of denying Him in the first place.


Hebrews 12:1 "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."

In another race, a racer came who had tripped and fallen in her last Olympics. This time, she did it again. She hit the ground, got on her knees, and you could practically hear her spirit break. A broken spirit is harder to run with than a broken leg. She was still in a good position to stand and catch up. Then she would have at least finished. But it was over before she was down.

I wish she would have got up and finished. And I hope a Christian who screws up and fails will accept God's mercy and grace and come back stronger. That's the way grace is designed. Our failures could break us and cast us out entirely, or they could reveal our neediness and bring us closer to our loving God.

To have a big "DNF" above your head is worse than last place. We are all going to fall at some point. Every great name in the Bible - except Jesus - comes with some great mistake. But the heroes of faith, those whose lives really show the glory of God, are the ones who run and finish.