Don’t bother me right now; somebody’s about to win the gold.
Summertime productivity is always tough, but the quadrennial years are beyond reason: presidential mud-wrestling has demanded attention (the political campaign) and worldwide competition (the Olympics) make it hard to focus on anything else on today’s schedule.
Over 10,500 athletes are in Paris right now, from 206 countries. They’re competing in 32 sports, with 329 separate events. Nearly 1000 medals will be carried home by winners, runner-ups and third-placers. Americans like Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Scotty Scheffler, Simone Biles and Sha’Carri Richardson arrive as hopefuls; we’ll find out who has what it takes, on the world stage.
Kids around the world are watching – and dreaming – as people not much older than they push themselves to the limit in synchronized swimming and beach volleyball, archery and mountain biking; fencing and field hockey, taekwondo and table tennis. Some of today’s junior watchers will be motivated to make the massive investment of time, energy and devotion required to be wearing their country’s colors in August, 2028 in Los Angeles.
The Olympics are inspiring… but they’re not new. Launched in antiquity, the modern version resurrected after 1500 years of cessation in Athens, in 1896. They have become a fixture of modern international life: through them individual and national pride is earned through fair and responsible means, allowing honor and recognition without abuse or violence.
How do you get to the winner’s platform to hear your anthem and receive your prize? It starts with baby steps: begin to develop a baseline of physical fitness; find the field of performance in which you seem gifted and inclined; connect with a coach who can refine your performance and inspire your focus; sacrifice other distractions so that you can maximize your potential, and then give it your all. If you’ve got what it takes, keep your passport in your gym bag: you’re going to Los Angeles in ’28.
Paul used the games to portray a powerful spiritual instruction:
“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.”
– 1 Corinthians 9:23-25
That’s about more than membership at LA Fitness or a Saturday morning jog with your buddies. Paul didn’t try to inspire Kingdom heroism with sandlot softball and basement ping-pong; he likened individual engagement in eternal endeavors with the highest level of athleticism. No average amateur efforts were acceptable when a gold medal race was possible.
Let’s be honest: most Christians are satisfied to drop in at the YMCA (their local church) when nothing “better” is on the calendar. As long as they work up a sweat and get their heart rate up for 65 minutes – from the opening prayer warm-up to the closing prayer cool-down – they feel like they’ve earned an honorary medal for just showing-up in the right workout clothes.
What stands between the gym-rat and the gold medal? It mirrors the journey from church-attendance to winning the crown that lasts forever. Make the crucial reset from watching to doing. Believe that God made you to win the prize. Find the performance implied by your divine design. Put yourself in touch with a coach who knows how to develop and challenge you to engage beyond your comfort zone, reaching toward your potential. Begin to produce and see results. Go from being a local wanna-be to a global Kingdom Champion.
Untold millions of hours – and billions of dollars – are being expended to convene the MMXXIV Olympiad. What investment is warranted in preparation for the awards platform – the BEMA seat of 2 Corinthians 5 – at the end of this biblical era?
I don’t know about you, but I’m already running my race, hoping to medal!
Bob Shank
