In the scriptures, the Christian is described with various metaphors. However, the two that best showcase the requirements of a Christian daily living, interaction with others, and personal discipline are the descriptions of the Christian as a soldier and as an athlete.
Without a doubt, a soldier’s life is characteristically different from a civilian’s life. The rules, regulations, responsibility, and rigour a soldier is subjected to daily is greater than an average civilian can endure in a short period.
We can say the same for athletes, elite athletes, who are determined to be and remain the best in the world. The athlete’s routine of early morning running, long hours of stretching the body, obedience to the coaches’ instructions, strict diets, and more, are not commonly practised among humans. However, the scripture is clear that God expects His children to live a disciplined life just like athletes.
The apostle Paul was very definite about this in First Corinthians chapter 9, verses 24 to 27.
Do you not 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 for an imperishable crown. Therefore, I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus, I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
The apostle drew a parallel between athletes running to win a prize and Christians running the spiritual race to obtain an eternal prize. Certainly, it makes sense that a Christian is expected to make more sacrifices than an Olympic athlete because an Olympic gold is trash compared to the eternal glory that awaits those who end their race in Christ, having done exploits for God’s Kingdom.
Different Types of Races
In athletics, there are different types of races. Relative to our focus in this article, we will look at four types – Sprint, hurdle, marathon, and relay.
In the sprint, the most important factor is speed. As long as you stay within your lane, all you need to do is get to the finish as quickly as possible. It takes a lot of training to get your body to move fast enough to cover 100 metres in less than 10 seconds. Usain Bolt, for instance, trained for well over a decade to achieve the record of 9.58 seconds in a 100-metre race in 2009. That record still stands. What a burst of energy is required to achieve that.
In the hurdle, speed is important, but accuracy is even more important. It requires you to run and jump over obstacles. If an athlete must reach the finish line in record time, he or she will have to jump over all the hurdles accurately. Tripping over any of the hurdles significantly reduces your speed and increases your finish time.
Marathon is probably the best to describe our race as Christians. The most important factor is endurance. In a marathon, you don’t have a strict lane to stay on, and you don’t begin with speed. Your goal is to get to the finish line because some who start a marathon do not get to the end. In running the Christian race, nothing is more important than finishing your race and keeping the faith.
Relay is a corporate race. It exemplifies our corporate essence as the body of Christ. David’s song of ascent in Psalms 133 captures it well – Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard,
the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments.
It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion;
for there, the Lord commanded the blessing—Life forevermore. In a relay, you are not interested in only your success in the race. You are invested in the success of your brother. We must all be at our peak.
Generally, one of the first things to master in the race of life is staying on track. Before you navigate, learn to stay on track. Speed is useless when you are off track or in the wrong direction. As you pray to God for speed, you must trust Him for the ability to stay on track because you can only retain the possibility of obtaining a crown by staying on track. If you veer off track, you will be disqualified, no matter how fast you run.
God has shown us that we must live like elite athletes who undergo intense training and discipline to prepare for peak performance and stand a chance of winning medals in competitions such as the Olympics and world championships.
The truth is that the process is painful and slow. There are usually no shortcuts. You have to exercise your spirit the way you do physical exercise. The more you expose your veins to the rigour of physical exercise, the more you stretch their capacity to withstand stress and strain. After some time, you will realise that you no longer feel pain like you used to when you started adhering to a physical exercise routine.
It is in this context that I tell people that emotion is a lie. It is in this context that I tell people to possess their souls. Refrain from giving in to your soul dictating how your life should go. Your spirit must rule and put your soul under control. To do this, you have to expose your spiritual life by exercising your spirit; you have to expose your spiritual life by possessing your soul; you have to expose your spiritual life by giving order and direction to your body.
All of these will not be possible if you do not task and train your spirit the way an athlete will wake up every morning, jog, and cover distance. Your spirit has to cover some distance in the spirit realm before you can run successfully in life. The spirit realm is a vast land. Make up your mind to cover some distance in the spirit this year. Discipline for your spirit, and you have to release yourself to the dealings. Apply restrictions to your life this year in line with the demands of the Holy Spirit.
Be temperate and train yourself until your spiritual muscle is firm and not flabby. Build stamina through constant engagement and stamina. The Bible said we should follow those who, through faith and patience, obtained the promise.
Hebrews chapter 12 verses 1 to 4 – “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, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.”
In this race, one thing that will define and separate you is endurance. Jesus endured the pain of the cross and despised the shame of the mockings and the humiliation He faced. Jesus resisted in word and resisted blood. He is our pattern.
This year, endure your marathon, accurately scale your hurdles, gain speed on your sprint, and may the Lord be glorified. God bless you.
Reverend Austin Ukporhe is the senior pastor at Remnant Christian Network, Lagos. Raised in Sokoto, northern Nigeria, he was trained in peculiar firebrand evangelism and was ordained as a pastor in 2001. He has experienced countless and diverse workings of the faithfulness of God over two decades and has developed a passion to see God’s will for Nigeria become a reality. He can be reached on +2348060255604.
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