Finish Line Faith

The Olympic Games...two solid weeks of athletic competition and patriotism. The media switched their focus from the presidential election to cover table tennis. Kids were allowed to stay up past their bedtimes to see if Shawn Johnson would win the overall title. Companies like Wheaties, VISA, and Coca Cola developed new logos to capture new comsumers by manipulating the spirit of the games for their products.

You would think anything that would alter life so drastically would have more of a lasting impact. But even though details were fresh on our minds before each competiton began, there is one thing we remember when it's over: the winner.

Think about it. In the 100 meter men's sprint, can you tell me which runner took the first lead? No. How about second place? Probably not. But what can you tell me?

As a runner, you can probably tell me that Jamaica's Usain Bolt broke his own world record in that race to win the gold. He joined the ranks of Carl Lewis in winning gold in both the 100m and 200m. Not to mention, he shattered Michael Johnson's record that no one thought would ever be broken.

Do you see a pattern here? No one remembers how you started unless you finish well.

Let's go through two examples. First, let's talk about Judas Iscariot. He started out pretty well. He was one of the original twelve disciples of Jesus. I'm sure his family and friends thought he was a good man to be that close to Jesus. But what is he remembered for? He was the one who betrayed Jesus Christ. For thirty pieces of silver, he handed his Savior over to be crucified. (See John 18 for the whole story.)Today, if someone betrays you, you may even call them a "Judas." No matter what good he did with his life, even 2,000 years later, he is not remembered for accompanying Jesus for his three years of ministry on this earth. He is remembered as a traitor.

On the other hand, consider the apostle Paul. He got off to a pretty rocky start. First of all, his name was Saul. You know what he did all day? Persecuted Christians. (Check out Acts 8 for the details.) But the Lord had other plans. He blinded Saul with a great light, Saul was converted, and God changed his name from Saul to Paul. God told Ananias, Paul's teacher, that Paul was a "chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel." (Acts 9:15) From that moment on, that's exactly what Paul did. He preached the Gospel to those who had not heard the name of Jesus. He wrote over half of the New Testament. He started more churches that we can even begin to count. When we think about Paul, we don't think about the innocent Christians that he killed in his life before Christ. We think about the amazing relationship he had with the Lord and the amazing testimony of his life, bearing the name of Christ, proclaiming joy in persecution and suffering.

Think about this in your own Christian life. After you make a decision for Christ, things are going pretty well. You pray and read your Bible. You might even tell someone else about Jesus. But what happens? Life starts getting busy. Priorities change. Before you know it, your relationship with God is about as meaningful as your relationship to your sixth cousin twice removed.

In 2 Timothy 4:7, towards the end of his life, Paul wrote, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." Paul may not hsve had the lead at the beginning of his Christian walk. In fact, he wasn't even in the race. Others who got a better start dropped out along the way. Their endurance couldn't take the pressures that are promised to us when we follow Christ.

Jesus didn't teach that we might face hardship. He assured us that it was inevitable. Matthew 10:22-23, Jesus says, "You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes." Notice that he doesn't say IF they persecute you. It says WHENEVER they persecute you.

Not everyone wins a race. It's the same way in the Christian faith. Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." (Matthew 9:37). Paul had what it took because he understood what it meant to cross the finish line. He practiced the same message He preached. And here's just another amazing fact about our incredible Father God. He doesn't just give gold medals to those who finish first. He gives a gold medal to everyone who finishes BEST.

In I Corinthians 9:24-27, Paul writes, "Don't you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Oherwise, I fear thst after preaching it to others, I myself might be disqualified."

You may be a casual runner like me. I'll never win a gold medal in the Olympics for Track & Field. I'll never know what it feels like to stand up on that top box while the Star-Spangled Banner plays in the background with a gold medal around my neck...until I get to heaven. To hear God say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant," will overshadow any Olympic ceremony.

Runner vs. Jogger

I used to claim that I was a runner….back before I actually ran. In those days, running meant owning a pair of tennis shoes and running when it was convenient or when I had eaten too much Ben&Jerrys. And I only ran until I got tired, whether that be one mile or three. I gave no thought to pacing or speed. It didn’t matter; I was only running on a whim – not because it was a determining factor in my daily routine. I was a jogger.

George Sheehan, running guru, once said that “The difference between a jogger and a runner is an entry blank.” A runner is serious enough about the sport to compete in it. Simply put, that is the dividing line between runner and jogger. But that entry blank signifies so much more. The entry blank symbolizes commitment to train, dedication to finish the race, and a promise to run with a purpose.

THE JOGGER runs for…
Entertainment: I know, I know – who runs for entertainment? I used to. Not that I found anything amusing about dripping with sweat, but the other people at the track were entertaining. Watching large people run is funny (Forgive me, please, I was very immature). And there are always muscly men working out nearby. Entertainment, distraction from whatever normally occupies the mind.

Recreation: It’s something to do with people you love. And if those you love run, then it is a way to be with friends, family, or your current love. I took up running while in the “talking” phase of a relationship with a baseball player. He had to run three miles a day as part of practice, and he asked me to run with him. Sure, I burned a few calories and spent time with a cute athlete, but it was purely recreational.

Social Status: Not the high society kind of status, but the status as an athlete. In America, the physical is worshiped, whether it be beauty, fitness, or health. It is only natural that people would jog in order to have the reputation as someone who cares about their body. To join the ranks of the physically fit. To be known as something other than a couch potato.

Personal Gain: Quite a few people jog for exercise. They want to loose a few pounds, shape up, or build muscle. What separates these joggers from marathoners who finish in five hours is the amount of effort put into it. One blogger put it like this, "If you run 4 1/2 hours--but barring injury or illness you could have run it in 3 1/2 hours--then you are jogging. If you run 4 1/2 hours and you know that you could not possibly have run any harder or faster - then you are running." It is all about the amount of heart and effort put into running.

THE RUNNER runs for...
Runners allow nothing to distract them from their run. Nothing gets in the way of training. They have a goal, a future race, and nothing deters them from it. A runner gives all, refusing to look back, focusing on the goal, pushing past pain and distraction toward the prize. Now that I run, is a huge determining factor in my life. Running effects who I am and what I do. I can’t just make plans for the evening, I have to first consult my training schedule to see if I can cover the assigned mileage earlier in the day. My budget is affected by running; I have to plan in race fees, running clothes, and tennis shoes every three hundred miles. My grocery list has changed: I don’t look at calories or fat anymore, but count grams of protein and carbohydrates to make sure my body is adequately fueled. My shopping habits have changed, a pick-me-up used to be a new pair of high heels, but just yesterday I picked up a new Sapphire/black running outfit and ran my fastest mileage to date (talk about a pick-me-up!). Running isn’t the only thing I do; I take kickboxing and Pilates, and I strength train. But I do those other activities to enhance my performance as a runner. Strong muscles protect bones and increase speed. I read about running. I write about running. It’s all about running.

Chances are, if you are reading this blog, you are a runner, not a jogger. Joggers don’t read about running. Runners, on the other hand, are obsessed with it. Runners are dedicated, driven, and focused individuals. But let me ask you this, fellow runner –

In your walk with Christ, are you a runner or a jogger?

Is your walk with the Lord dedicated, driven, and focused on His Kingdom? Or are you a Christian for what you can get out of it? Are you a jogging after Christianity or running hard after Jesus?

THE JOGGER CHRISTIAN lives for...
Entertainment: Do you go to church for the entertainment value? Granted, churches today are so spectacular that it is easy to watch the show rather than worshiping Jesus, but that is no excuse. To you go for the music, drama, stories, and feel-good sensation? Are you seeking for someone to entertain you rather than you serving SOMEONE?

Recreation: Recreational activities are take-‘em-or-leave-‘em by design, with no commitment attached. Just go, have fun, enjoy, relax. Don’t get over-involved or serious about the topics. Recreational Christians don’t feel the need to join a church, serve the Body of Christ, or expend energy to pursue Jesus in all areas of life. Their Christianity is just for fun.

Social Status: There is a huge contingent of pew-sitters that are their solely to be seen. It is especially commonplace in the Deep South. It is the place for politicians to been seen as moral individuals, for business people to make connections, and women to pick out appropriate husbands for their daughters.

Personal Gain: Can be any number of reasons, to earn your salvation, to appease your conscience for some sin, to make a Jesus-freak (who you are most likely related to) happy. Coming to church maybe about meeting nice girls or getting your weekly spiritual fix. The difference is in the motive for coming.

THE RUNNER CHRISTIAN lives for...
Christ-followers make every effort to allow nothing to get between them and their Lord. They run for Him, to Him, and because of Him. Nothing is important enough to get in the way of praying, reading the Word, and investing in their relationship with Jesus Christ. Christ-followers know that they are here on earth for a reason, they know their purpose, they have embraced their calling, and are pursuing it with all their might. They push past busy days, refusing to be distracted by petty church-y-ness, and run toward the prize. Paul was an excellent example, he said “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.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.

When I am truly living my life for the Lord, seeking Him with all of my energy; it changes who I am and what I do. It changes who I hang out with (either Christians who build me up or those in need of Jesus), what I do, why I do it, and the attitude I have while doing it. God affects my budget, no longer is that money there to please me, but to benefit the Kingdom. That involves tithing, yes; but also giving to those in need, buying a happy for a friend who is sad, sending a card just to let someone know you are praying. When God comes first, all other priorities take backseat. Jesus isn’t the only thing I do; I work, write, shop, run, read, and build a life with people. But I do those other activities to enhance my walk with the Lord. They give me opportunities to live out my faith. I do everything in my life to achieve the goal of knowing my Lord better.

If you are not running after Jesus every day of the week, then you are a jogger, not a runner. You cannot be a runner without consistent, dedicated running. You cannot truly follow Jesus without consistent dedication to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Running can be slow or fast, but it is different from jogging in that when you are finished, you cannot take another step. Live every day for Jesus being utterly spent at the end of each day.

Be a runner, in all areas of life.

"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.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.

You Might Be a Christian If...

Hopefully, you all had a little fun with the last post. You probably got to make fun of yourself a few times with comments like, "I SO do that!" Maybe you even added a few of your own. (If you did, be sure and comment so we can all enjoy!)

It never ceases to amaze me how different...but how alike runners are. If you need me to prove it to you, just stand at the finish line of a local race. The diversity of runners is amazing. We come in all different shapes and sizes, prefer specific paces and distances, insist on one brand of shoe over all others, hate running indoors or embrace gym memberships for your favorite treadmill...

No matter how different we are, we still have that one common bond as runners. You know that each person you're running with in a race finds time in their crazy schedule to train, whether early in the morning before class, or at night after the kids are in bed. They understand the amazing feeling of accomplishment in crossing a marathon finish line. They can empathize with an injury that forces you to resort to pool running for a month. They don't even expect you to have all of your toenails. Regardless of our personal preferences, we're all runners.

Being a Christian is the same way. We are so different - with differing backgrounds, from numerous countries, converted at different ages, each with unique spiritual gifts and callings on our lives. Just like runners though, we have that eternal bond as brothers and sisters in Christ.

In his first letter to Corinth, Paul points out this very point.

"For as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. So the body is not one part but many. If the foot should say, "Because I'm not a hand, I don't belong to the body," in spite of this it still belongs to the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I'm not an eye, I don't belong to the body," in spite of this it still belongs to the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But now God has placed the parts, each one of them, in the body just as He wanted. And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? 20 Now there are many parts, yet one body.
So the eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" nor again the head to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, all the more, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are necessary. And those parts of the body that we think to be less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unpresentable parts have a better presentation. But our presentable parts have no need [of clothing]. Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable, so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other. So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it." (I Corinthians 12:12-27)

There is not a spiritual gift, race, or worship style prefered by God. He views them all as equally important, and they are all needed for a spiritually alive and growing New Testament church.

So don't think that because you don't have a full-time job at a church that God hasn't called you to do His work. Just as running a 5K makes you just as much of a runner as an ultra-marathoner, stacking chairs after the worship service makes you just as much of a servant of Christ as the preacher. In the same way, if you are the one teaching the Bible study, don't think you are more important than the one who greeted participants at the door. (That's just as fake as sneering at someone with a Half Marathon Race Bib in the bathroom before the race's start. You know by mile 18, you're wishing you could switch with them!)

So embrace your spiritual gifts. Ask God to reveal to You how He wants to use you to do His work. Ask for forgiveness if you haven't been using the gifts He has given you, or if you have regarded yourself as more important than others in the church. Then, pray for opportunities to glorify God with the talents and abilities He has given you.

An additional challenge: Ask yourself if you are as easily identified as one of Gof's children as you are as a runner. If you made a list of "You Might Be a Christian If..." including things like love your enemies, turnd the other cheek when wronged, gives cheerfully, loves your neighbor as yourself...how would you measure up? Seek to be more blatant with your Christianity as you are in your love for running.

Look Like a Runner

I am a new runner.
New meaning that two months ago my idea of exercise was sitting on my couch watching people on TV do sit-ups. Last week I topped nine miles. I didn’t just get up off the couch and run that ridiculous distance, it took a lot of training and conditioning. And now I am not only running, but I love it! And I love looking like a runner. Did you know there is a whole world of shopping devoted just to runners? Shoes, matching outfits in sweat evaporating material, blister-preventing socks, sweatshirts out of this really cool material that heats up when you sweat, and even computer chips that attach to the shoe and keep track of your mileage. Sigh. It is a shopping girl’s dream!

I have the cutest running outfits: did you know they make running skirts? Yeah, and they are not only more comfortable than shorts, they cover more jiggly too! My expensive correct-my-mild-overpronation-shoes match my running skirt which totally makes my too cute, yet still totally functional, running outfit.

I have all the right gear; I look like the model runner. And when I put it all on people assume I am a runner. After all, I look the part. But looking the part doesn’t make me a runner. I can put on my cute moisture-wicking outfit, I can shop at runners-only-stores (yes, they have those stores, and they are fabulous!), I can hang out at the trails, I can talk about mileage and times, but until I actually get out there and run I am not a runner. Nothing I wear or say or buy will make me a runner. Only running makes me a runner.

It is the same for Christianity.

If you haven’t noticed, there is a definite church vocabulary. There are certain clothes that are appropriate for church and Christians, while other clothes are a total no-no. There are Christian stores, Christian t-shirts, Christian music, Christian movies (smirk), and even Christian diets. And a lot of that stuff is fine and dandy. But none of that paraphernalia makes you a follower of Christ. Looking the part does not make you a Christian. Believing in His death and resurrection, accepting His saving grace, and living each day with Him as Lord of your life. That is what makes you a follower of Christ. Nothing more. Nothing less.

There are specific details that give away a good runner. Evidence of the mileage run. Blisters. Black toenails. Sweat stained headbands. BodyGlide. Even a runner’s expensive shoes bear scars – dirt marks, worn tread, and soles that mold to its runners feet.

Real Christ Followers also bear the evidence of their faith on their lives. A Bible earmarked and torn from use, because they spend time in it every day. Knees worn from hours spent in prayer for others. Scars from spiritual battles. Lines of weariness on their faces from consistently saying no to sin. Tired muscles from repeatedly choosing to take the high road. Joy in times of sorrow, love when faced with an enemy, peace is times of distress, faithfulness to the unfaithful, self-control when faced with over-indulgence, forgiveness to the unforgivable, purpose in a self-centered world – these are marks of Jesus on our lives.

True runners bear the scars of their discipline and commitment on their bodies. Ordinary people may only see feet in desperate need of a pedicure, but other runners see their character and lifestyle written on their body. Non-runners don’t recognize the signs of a runner, the scars are just scars to them. But to another runner it means companionship, someone who understands, someone who is equally committed. Those runner-scars reveal who that person is on the inside.

True, committed, followers of Christ bear the marks of their lifestyle on their body. Badges of honor that bear witness to the world. The world will not, cannot understand those marks. They don’t get why you would put yourself through that kind of strain and self-denial. Then again, they haven’t met Jesus. Other followers of Christ, they understand. They see the scars and are encouraged. They are not alone in this race. You keep on, in spite of pain or difficulty, and so can they. Your Christ-following scars are badges of honor, testimonies of battles survived, of a Savior who ran beside you every step of the way.

Take a sec and look at your life: Do you find yourself getting to the track and only looking the part? Does it still not click why so many seem to enjoy running in the first place? Then ask someone. Try these questions: What made you start running for Christ, how to you prepare yourself daily for the hurt and pain of the Christian workout, and most importantly what is at the end of the race? Click here for more questions and answers.

Do you get short-winded when exercising your faith? Don’t know exactly which shoe to choose or what path to run? Then join the apostles and start running with a group. Even the early believers didn’t have it all together but realized through companionship and accountability they could spur each other on. Look around you and see who is sprinting towards Christ and ask to join their team.

Do you have bruises on your knees from stumbling in your faith? What about scars that remind you of trials faced? Remember to count it all joy when you see that Christ is working in you to make you stronger and better. Even Peter, The Rock, stumbled in his faith but used it as a reminder of Christ’s continuing power. Let Christ pick you up just like Peter and continue your run toward Him.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Phil. 3: 10-15 "That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”