Running the Race to Win!

Running the Race to Win

1 Cor. 9:19-27

Pastor Allen Snapp 5/31/15

Intro:

Two weeks ago we looked at the first of two gospel-principles in this chapter that can help us be more effective and fruitful in our witness for Jesus and in seeing precious souls come to Christ. And so we talked about how…

1.  Christians need to be flexible enough to enter an unbelievers world and relate to them as much as possible without compromising our faith. 

Paul never compromised his faith or integrity, but wherever he could he flexed and adapted so as to relate to people, in order to share the gospel of Jesus with them. 

The second point from this passage is that we are to discipline ourselves so that we don't live aimlessly or mess up our witness for Christ. We could boil it down to two words: we need to be flexible and disciplined if we are going to be effective in our witness for the kingdom. This morning let's consider that second point: 

2.  Christians should discipline ourselves so that we don't live aimlessly or mess up our       witness for Christ 

The metaphors Paul uses here are athletic metaphors: running a race and boxing.  The Corinthians would be very comfortable with athletic metaphors because Corinth was the site of the second-biggest athletic event in the world. The biggest, of course, were the Olympics which were held every four years in Olympia, Greece, but Corinth held the Isthmian Games every two years and they drew people from all over to compete in athletic events.

The quality that Paul draws out in these verses can be summed up with the word discipline. It takes discipline to run well in a race. It takes discipline to exercise the self-control in all areas of life that it takes to be an excellent athlete. It takes discipline to run with a clear goal in mind, it takes discipline to go the distance in the boxing ring. It takes self-control and discipline not to mess up and disqualify yourself from the competition.

Discipline can be beneficial in any area of our life, from exercise to planning to diet, but Paul applies it specifically to the Christian life, and to his goal of living a fruitful life advancing the gospel wherever he goes and that's where I want us to focus as well. Paul recognized that it takes more than good intentions and "want to" to run the race and finish well. It takes a disciplined life. Discipline helps us to be more fruitful and more productive for the kingdom of God. 

One definition of discipline is to train (yourself) to do something by controlling your behavior. A similar definition is to train or develop by instruction and exercise especially in self-control. 

Discipline helps train us and develop us. It is closely linked with self-control because discipline is the opposite of just doing whatever we feel like when we feel like it. Discipline is the kind of self-control to do what we know we should do even when we don't feel like doing it, or want to do it. 

Running the race, not running on a treadmill

In discussing the importance of spiritual discipline in our lives, there is a danger we need to watch out for. It is easy for discipline to slide into performancism, where we think it's our performance (or lack thereof) that determines our relationship with God and His approval and acceptance of us. Performancism isn't running a race, it's running on a treadmill. With performancism we are always running but never getting anywhere because we never feel like we live up to God's standards and demands. God's approval and acceptance always seems just out of our reach. Or, if we do feel like we've lived up to His standards and earned His approval and acceptance, then we get proud and self-righteous. 

What we need to remember is that God doesn't accept us on the basis of our performance, but solely on the performance of His Son, Jesus Christ on the cross where he took our sins and paid our ransom. We can't earn anything by our performance, and we can't be more accepted by God than we are the moment we put our trust and faith in Jesus Christ. So let me emphasize this: if you are trusting in Christ God loves and accepts you just as you are, you are His beloved son or daughter. If you aren't, you can't be good enough to live up to His perfect and holy standards, but there is One who already did that, Jesus Christ, and he gave his life in order to save you from your sins. How can you be saved? What does God ask of you? To believe in Jesus and ask him to be your Lord and Savior, and you shall be saved. Not earning, it's a gift.

1. Discipline helps us do what God's called us to do better
2. Discipline helps us keep our eyes on the prize
3. Discipline helps us concentrate our efforts in a specific direction
4. Discipline helps protect us from disqualifying ourselves from the race

So discipline isn't some way of being more acceptable to God. But it is a way of increasing our usefulness to God and our fruitfulness in the kingdom. Discipline helps us to get better at whatever we are trying to do. Discipline helps us to increase our ability and our capacity to accomplish and achieve. God designed it that way. There are very few things worth accomplishing that we can just decide one morning to do, and actually do it. One morning I was at the YMCA and I had been doing a little running on the treadmill and I decided that I could run an 8 minute mile. Now, an 8 minute mile isn't anything amazing, there are probably many here could do that. But I couldn't, and just wanting to, and thinking I can, wasn't enough to do it. I was hurting after 4 minutes and had to slow the pace down. It's not that I can't do it, or that it's beyond me. It's that I would need to run consistently and build up my lungs and legs and heart to achieve that very achievable goal. 

Here's what I want us to get: where we are right now doesn't have to where we are tomorrow. We can grow and expand, and Paul's metaphor of running a race to win tells us that there is a way that we should push ourselves to get better, faster, and in better condition spiritually, not to be more acceptable to God, but to increase our fruitfulness for the kingdom.

Paul says life is a race. We should train to win. Here's the thing: we aren't in competition with each other, we are all running our own race. Winning isn't doing better than the next guy, winning is doing all we can to finish well and help as many people as we possibly can to be saved. We can't do it apart from God's work in us, but the way God has designed it, God doesn't do it in us apart from our work. 

The way God has designed us, wanting to do something, thinking we can do it, isn't usually enough. We have to work up to it. We have to train for it. We have to discipline ourselves.

Paul knew that for him to be all that God called him to be, and accomplish all that God had called him to accomplish, it would take spiritual discipline. God's 

Before we look at the spiritual benefits of discipline, and I hope, get a greater vision for discipline in our spiritual lives, I want to give a warning. Discipline is one of those topics that can easily blur into performancism and we can get messed up in our thinking no matter which side of the equation we fall on. 

If you are a very disciplined person, you know that you have to fight the impulse of thinking that discipline is the answer to everything, and very possibly you have to resist the temptation of thinking that because you are highly disciplined you are superior to those around you that are less disciplined. If you struggle with discipline, you might struggle with feelings of inferiority or condemnation because you can't seem to conquer that thing that you want to conquer or accomplish half as much as your more disciplined friends do. So here are a couple things to remember:

• Discipline can't save us. Only Jesus Christ can save us. 

1. The Christian life is a race and a fight

In a race, only one runner can break the tape and come in first, but for Christians, there is no competition. We aren't trying to come in ahead of each other. We each have our own race. Near the end of his life Paul wrote, "I have finished the race". Our lives 

2. Living a godly and fruitful life takes effort and discipline

In a race, only one runner wins the prize. While personal skill and ability plays a part, athletes need to train and work hard in order to win the prize.