Christian Olympians

If you are like me, you watch the Olympics. If you are like me you find the "hoopla" of the Winter Olympics interesting, enjoyable, and somewhat humorous all at the same time. I find it interesting because I grew up in San Diego and know nothing (or almost nothing) of most winter sports. So it is fascinating to watch people hurtle down a hill and launch themselves into jumps, bumps (moguls), or icy tubes (bobsledding). I find it enjoyable because some of these "sports" are rather amazing to watch. I find it humorous because millions of people will watch other people glide around in shiny, skin-tight costumes on a blade of metal and listen to their stories of countless hours, days, weeks, months and years of practice and torment to their bodies so that they can glide and jump better than the other person (this is called ice skating). I find it humorous because we raise these people to a level of hero or heroine when they win the Gold, but most of them don't even know what life (real life, that is) even looks like. They don't have friends; they have coaches and competitors. They don't have family; they have cheerleaders in the stands who have supported them on this journey. They don't have a life; they have practice. When they lose, they "Will try again in four more years." When they win, they "Will come back and do it again in four more years." When they get too old, they have nothing but the past and a few trophies or "almost." I guess it really is more sad than humorous.

So what does this have to do with us as Christians? Well, it may surprise you to know that the Bible mentions sports several times as illustrations. Paul says in 1 Cor 9:24-27, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." We will come back to this passage, but he also says in 2 Tim 2:5, "An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules." He uses an athlete to illustrate how a faithful person should expect to grow in Christ. There are many other allusions to sports elsewhere throughout the New Testament (cf. Gal 2:2; 5:7; Php 2:16; Heb 12:1). So what is the point?

The point of all this is to reveal that as crazy as we have become over sports today, this is nothing new. Sports is not a new phenomenon. When Paul and others were writing the New Testament there were may different games that were played each year that would have rivaled our modern-day Olympics or the Super Bowl. There were many games of national and international importance such as the Olympic, Pythean, Nemean and Isthmian games. The Isthmian Games are of particular interest because they were held on the Isthmus of Corinth just outside the city of Corinth. So when Paul alludes to the idea of sports, running, boxing, etc. these would all have resonated with the Corinthians because they were very familiar with the Isthmian Games. What were these games like?

The Isthmian Games were no minor event. There were several try-outs and competitions until finally a region would send their best athletic representative. If selected the athlete entered the training grounds of Posiedon at Isthmia for a 10 month training period. During this time strict rules were enforced. If anyone at any time were to violate these rules they were immediately disqualified from the games. Some of the rules are as follows. Two horns would be sounded each morning. The first horn was the call to wake up and prepare themselves for the athletic training. They would be bathed, massaged, and prepared for the training of that day. The second horn was a call to assemble in the training field. If at any time an athlete failed to respond to either of these horns (even once) they were immediately disqualified. They were to adhere to a strict diet that included such things as dried fruit, cheese, certain meats, fresh vegetables, etc. There was to be no alcohol as part of their diet for 10 months. If at any time they broke the diet they were immediately disqualified. They trained every day for 10 months outside (remember that they trained naked and it snows in Corinth). If they missed a day they were immediately disqualified.

But if they made it through the training and won the day they were given amazing rewards. Most of us know that they received a victory wreath, but that was merely symbolic (similar to our trophies or medals). They would return to their local towns or cities as conquering heroes. The entrance into their city was accompanied by a city-wide parade (similar to our modern-day Super Bowl parades). They were given a seat on the city council. They were given a home in the nicest district free of charge. Their children were given free education at the finest school in the city. Often a statue was erected of their likeness to commemorate their athletic prowess. One of the most interesting "rewards" that reveals the nature of sports in the ancient world is that sometimes the city would knock out a section of their city wall. The city wall was universally recognized as the protection for the city. The idea is that since this city has such an athlete amongst them they are not in need of their walls to protect them. He will fight for them and win the day. In essence, those who won the games were idolized by young and old (sounds familiar doesn't it?).

You may be thinking, "This is all interesting information, but what does it have to do with me?" Notice again that in 1 Cor 9 Paul mentions that he runs and fights in such a way that when he stands before Christ some day he will not be "disqualified." He uses the same word used of the athlete who doesn't play by the rules. The point is that we often view these verses about running a race as a cute reference to a quaint little foot race that some backwards people used to participate in. So we better run hard to be good Christians and get the prize. But the illustration is more like this. Imitating and following Christ is like training for the Olympics or the Super Bowl. It should be something that is hard work. It should require some sweat and tears and blood every once in a while, if not all the time. The Christian life is not supposed to be something that we breeze through. We don't become Christians so that we have the easy road. We become Christians because we realize that an awesome, all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present, Creator-of-the-Universe God loved me so much that He sent His Son to become a man and die on a cross for us. And when we do this, when we trust Jesus Christ to save us from our sin because we can't do it ourselves, we are just beginning the Christian journey - not ending it. We have just entered the 10 month training facility. And if we obey Christ and love God and love others with all our heart, soul and mind then when it is all said and done we will stand before Christ, just as the athlete stood before the judges, and hear those words - "Well done, you good and faithful servant."

So the next time you sit down to watch the Olympics and you marvel at the skill, dedication, training, commitment, and endurance that you see in those athletes remember that those athletes are just an illustration of what our spiritual life ought to look like. May we all run the race with all our might that we might not be disqualified, but instead obtain the prize.