Are You a Runner? Discipline and Consistency in the Race of Faith

(This sermon on 1 Corinthians 9:19-27 was preached 7/27/2008. For a version that is easier to print, click here. The audio is available here.)

What is your favorite biblical image of the Christian life?

  • We are soldiers in the army of God?
  • We are the bride of Christ?
  • We are God’s ambassadors, proclaiming His Truth, speaking His Word to the world?
  • Or perhaps the image from John 15: Christ is the vine, we are the branches, connected to Him, getting sustenance from Him.

I love all these images – but my favorite biblical image is that of running the race of faith.

As I wrote in this week’s email, I love this image in part because of when I grew up. As a 16 year old just beginning my second cross country season, I watched the 1972 Munich Olympic games. There were numerous thrilling moments, especially Dave Wottle’s come from behind victory in the 800.

But what most impressed me – the event I can still see most clearly in my head – was Frank Shorter’s win in the marathon, destroying an excellent field. Shorter’s victory inspired hordes of new runners in the US, all wanting to complete a marathon; for me, the previous, vague idea that one day I might run a marathon became the certainty that I would.

My interest in running carried over to Bible reading. I scoured my Good News New Testament for running images. I well remember underlining 1 Timothy 6:12, which reads in that translation, “Run you best in the race of faith. ”

I also encountered the other biblical running images, including the 1 Corinthians 9 passage we will consider this morning. I began to see, dimly, that as wonderful as competing in races was, it’s major benefit, even it’s major purpose, was to display spiritual truth.

Over the next five weeks, I will share with you these biblical truths that I began to glimpse as a teen. Running in and of itself, like God’s other good gifts in this life, can be both a blessing and a curse. If we put running right at the center of our lives, if we allow it to dominate our lives, it will become an idol that drinks up our lifeblood, as it diverts us from the only source of true life, Jesus Himself.    But if we see this gift, this challenge, as a picture, an analogy pointing us to God, displaying spiritual truths in human form, then running can be the gateway to a closer walk with God. May God be pleased to use this series to that effect. (more…)

Running the Race of Faith

(For a version of this devotion that is easier to print, follow this link.)

The Bible is full of images that help us to understand the Christian life: we are part of the army of God, engaged in battle; we are part of the body of Christ; we are Christ’s ambassadors, his envoys, representing him in this world; we are a building, being built up into Christlikeness; we are branches, Christ is the vine; we are the bride of Christ; we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. All of these analogies are rich and useful.

My favorite analogy, however, compares the Christian life to running a race. This analogy is not common throughout the Bible, but Paul loves it, as he uses the running and racing image at least nine times in his epistles. In addition, the author of Hebrews uses the analogy once.

The analogy is particularly rich for me because I am a product of the running boom. I grew up during a period when mile world records would be the lead headline of the sports section; when an American set two of those world records; when 100,000 fans filled a stadium to witness a track meet between the US and the Soviet Union. Then came the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. That summer, as a 16 year old who had been running competitively for less than two years, I watched Jim Ryun, the mile world record holder and my boyhood hero, fall in his 1500 meters heat and thus fail to make the final; I watched Steve Prefontaine, an American runner only five years my senior, make a game effort to win Olympic gold in the 5k; and, most importantly, I watched Frank Shorter demolish the field to win the Olympic marathon. After those Olympics, millions of Americans began running, many hoping to complete a marathon. Every teenage boy in the country who was already running competitively began to dream of mile world records and marathon victories. I was no exception. (more…)