The Olympic Games
In just a few days from now, the 2021 Summer Olympic Games will begin in Tokyo, Japan. For two weeks, athletes from all over the globe will compete to win the Gold Medal, not just for themselves, but for their countries. The Olympics are a time when countries set their political notions aside and come together in spirit of unity.
Historians tell us that this sporting level of competition has been ongoing in some form since the early 8th century BC. (That’s 800 years before Jesus or during the time of Amos, Jonah, and Hosea.) In 472 BC, we read of competition that spanned for 5 days and was begun with a sacrifice to gods. The Olympic Games, however, were not the only “games” around. Historians tells us the Olympic Games were just series of many games during that time. Others (I’d never heard of some of these) such as the Isthmian, Pythian, Nemean, and Panathenaean Games were popular during the 1st century when the pages of the New Testament were penned.
Interestingly, the Isthmian Games were the most splendid and best-attended of all the games. Theologians think that the Isthmian Games might have been the background from which Paul was writing in 49 or 51 AD, and thus, may have been what he was describing in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. Imagine Paul, looking out his prison window, seeing with his mind’s eye, and describing thus, “Do you know know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.” In the spirit of the Olympics, let’s notice 4 specific athletic allusions made by Paul.
1. The Foot Race - In Philippians 2:16, we read, “holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.” In Galatian 2:2, Paul adds, “…lest by any means I might run or had run, in vain.”
2. The Crown. 2 Timothy 2:4 reads, “if anyone completes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.”
3. Boxing - Paul compares his desires of discipline for the Christian to the discipline needed in sports. He writes, “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, which I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (another athletic reference).
4. Disqualification - Paul explains in 2 Timothy 2:5, “And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.” Disqualification is a clear and present danger for anyone in ministry.
Competition and athleticism were key analogies for Paul. He wrote from what surrounded him if not interested him. Hebrews 12:1 informs, “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.” This inward drive which was in Paul was evident in elite athletes. This is why he alluded to them often in his writings.
What do athletics teach the 21st century believer (even those who might be past their physical prime)? Perseverance, sportsmanship, and the element of competition are all three necessities in Paul’s description of the Christian who is “in the game.” Paul looks to us, cheering on the athletes from the sideline, and says simply, “Get in the Game! Life is passing by! It is never too late!” He swings his rally towel, and says “Get up! Get moving!” He looks on to us from the playing field, and yells, “Let’s Go! Let’s preach Jesus and love people to Christ.”
Once we link our victory in life to Christ, the drive to achieve with always be present. 1 John 5:4-5 accentuates this thought: “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
Let us watch the 2021 Olympic Games with Jesus in mind. Let us view each event, each success, and each failure as an example of how we should live our lives. Athletics were important to Paul. Whether athletics are important to you or I today is a nonissue. What’s important to God is reaching all with the life-saving message of Jesus Christ in whatever venue possible. whichever way, and to whomever needs the Gospel.