The 2008 Summer Olympic Games have just ended.  In many different forms races were run and winners declared.  Some of those races took place in the water, some on tracks, some on courts, and some on apparatuses.  The title of the event and its style are insignificant.  All were races to determine gold, silver, and bronze medal winners.

As I watched the Olympics, I saw athletes perform with pain and exhaustion.  I watched competitors who knew that they would not win a medal continue their pursuit to the finish line and then collapse after giving their all.  There were world class athletes who dissolved in tears when they realized that their bobble or mistake would cost their team their dream of gold or even of a bronze medal. 

Why was the drama so high for these athletes?  Many of them had trained since the ages of three and four.  Others had put in 6 – 8 hours of training per day for three or more years for just one moment at the 2008 Olympics.  The one focus of their lives was the event they hoped to win.

While most of us don’t see ourselves as world class athletes, Paul certainly saw a similarity in the life of an athlete and in the life of a Christian believer.  In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 he used the comparison of various

athletic events with the Christian life.  He upped the value of the Christian life race by stating in verse 25 that the believer is seeking to receive an imperishable reward while the athlete is working for a wreath that will wither and die. Paul again picked up this analogy in Philippians 3:12-14.  Once more he raised the value of the Christian life race by speaking of the endurance involved as he wrote in verse 14 “I press on toward the
goal. . . “

As exciting as the Olympics can be, the greatest race or challenge is found in our living the life that Christ has called us to.  There has been a quote in my brain for several weeks now that I can’t let go of.  I questioned two employees of the International Mission Board about why Christianity was exploding in so many places around the world and declining here in our own nation.  Among other ideas that were shared, one jumped on me and won’t let go.  They said in summary:  “In many countries of the world, new Christians are discipled to obey the Word of God; in the United States we disciple new Christians to become good church members.”

The more I consider their statement, the more I believe it to be exactly true.  In our nation, we focus on a countless number of things that we consider to be all important.  Having the right clothes, participating in the right events, getting the right education, going out with the right people, and imaging

the right appearance carry the same, or even greater value, than our beliefs and our behaviors.  The same is true for churches.  Churches have added so many activities and programs to their schedules that it has become difficult to maintain and resource.  The perceived result has been that a person’s level of participation in the activities of the church determines a person’s spiritual level. 

In other parts of the world, to declare oneself to be a Christian believer results in separation from friends and family, costs a person a job, and may place the believer on a death list.  Their reading and studying of scripture is not to receive a certificate of scripture memory but to focus life on but one thing – to obey and follow Christ.

Olympic athletes made a definite choice to focus on one particular aspect – a specific sport and one or two specific events within that sport.  I believe it is time for churches to stop focusing on everything and begin to focus on what Christ entrusted to the church – “Make disciples.”  As Christian believers are discipled through their local church to obey and follow Christ, their individual lives become more focused on Christ. 

We have just seen what happens when an athlete is focused on the goal.  Will we begin to let our nation see what happens when Christian believers are focused on the goal of obeying and following Christ?