"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize. Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable. Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air. No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified."
Serious athletes train by giving extra attention to diagnosing areas of weakness and then extra effort to learn new skills in those areas.
They are always evaluating their daily performance with this question in mind: "Where do I most need to make progress?"
Nothing gets swept under the rug. No excuses are accepted.
Paul reminds us that we should approach our faith with at least as much dedication as a serious athlete approaches physical training.
If you were looking at general trends in the American church and were asked to list our greatest collective weaknesses, what would you put in the top three? *
Mine would include:
- Knowing the basics of the faith.
- Spiritual disciplines
- Materialism
What would it look like if the church took the mindset of a serious athlete toward our spiritual shortcomings?
______________
* The scarier questions are "What are my personal areas of spiritual weakness?" And "What am I personally doing to turn those weaknesses into strengths?"
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