When I was a young teenager growing up, the Olympics were must watch TV. It really was the best place to see the thrill of victory and to witness the agony of defeat as NBC used to report it all the time. I never missed the Olympics. I was always inspired and instructed by these athletes, amazed at their achievements. There were lots of highlights but I think of two when I was in high school. A young, tiny little girl by the name of Nadia Comaneci from Romania who scored a perfect 10 on the balance beam. Now the balance beam is already a scary event in my world. I keep thinking about crashing down on that beam. But she scored a perfect 10. And then she ended up having seven perfect ten scores in the 1976 Olympics. Stunning achievement of hard work leading to excellence. On the other end, the agony of defeat, I remember from the 1992 Olympics there was a runner by the name of Derek Redmond. He was all set to run in the 400 meter race and he jolted out of the starting blocks, started to run and he pulled a hamstring; he soon was limping along the track in pure agony, just determined to finish that race. Then we all witnessed how his father came out of the stands and onto the track, grabbed his son, put his arm around him and helped him finish limping the 400 meter race. It was an inspiring moment to show us that there’s something greater than victory in sport. It always points to the camaraderie, the love of family and people, and the competition. So these are beautiful moments.

In the last 15 years or so I think the Olympics have lost some of their thrill, mainly because of the politics of our times and the recent abuse that we have seen. In my view the opening ceremony for the current Olympics is just a pile on of the anti-Christian, woke agenda that permeates so many of our organizations today, all of our institutions, and certainly this is true when it comes to the Olympic Committee. But it doesn’t seem to impact the athletes that much.
They continue to inspire and instruct us on what it requires for us to make an impact in this world, whether it’s in sports or whether it’s for the sake of the gospel or in rescuing the innocent in the context of PassionLife Ministries. I just always loved to watch these athletes do what they do. You think of the amount of self-discipline and self-denial that is required and the self-control they must master.

To me that directly translates to our work and particularly my work. I’m always wrestling with these things. Are you willing to deny one thing in order to get something better? Are you willing to exercise self-discipline, beat your body into shape, do what’s required to do the great works of the gospel that God has called and prepared for us to do? Then there’s the endurance side of things just like the training the athletes have to go through. I used to be a swimmer so I swam long distances and it’s all about endurance and telling your body not to feel pain and the long- suffering that’s involved. And in learning to deal with defeat and loss all the time in sports, you’re dealing with loss and defeat more often than you’re dealing with victory.

Sports has been such an inspiration on how to live out the battles of life that in World War Two
they took the pilots that they were preparing and training as jet fighter pilots and they used sports to hone their skills. They played baseball to sharpen their reflexes. Back then you would steal a base going in feet first, but they trained everybody to play baseball and steel bases going in head first, to train them how to jump out of airplanes head first if they crashed or were about to crash into the water. They used boxing to train for combat skills. Sports inspire certain skill sets that are required in order to fight a great battle.

So we find the same thing in the Bible itself. The Apostle Paul has these great Olympic words in 1 Corinthians chapter 9. He’s talking about what he’s willing to do for the sake of the gospel. Let me read them to you: “I do all things for the sake of the gospel that I may share in the blessings of the gospel.” Then he begins to refer to sports as the analogy for self-control, self-denial, self-sacrifice, discipline, perseverance, long-suffering, and all these other attributes. He says: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we do it to receive an imperishable wreath. So I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air, but I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified.” What a great challenge to us, to run in such a way to win the race. We have a race to run and it requires training, mastering our bodies rather than letting all of our fleshly appetites control us all the time. You have to learn how to say no to yourself.

I am going to be going into my own private Olympics here once again. I will be leaving for the 31st trip to China in a couple of weeks and it requires some mental gymnastics. You’ve got to prepare your mind for a very long plane trip. You’re going into situations that you’re not really much in control of. Things happen. Some are surprising and some are disappointing. Some things open up that you had no expectation of. It’s very exciting, but it takes a lot of preparation. I’m preparing myself for that as well. Part of that preparation is just this reminder: John, you’ve got to be willing to pay the price. If you want to see the gospel conquer forces of death and darkness with the light of the gospel and the gospel of life, you’ve got to be willing to pay the price. John, are you willing to pay the price? And Paul is reminding us of that. Run so that you may obtain the prize. That means I need to be disciplined when it comes to things like prayer. I would encourage you to pay the price as well. You can pray for me, but if you master things, you’ll write it down, set a time, do it intentionally, not just as an afterthought. This is the kind of intercession that some people have really come to achieve and I invite you to pay that price. Some people have learned how to spend their money in a way that they can live smaller so they can give more to the advance of the kingdom. That is intentional. They’re not just giving you a tip. We don’t really need tippers. We need people who want to win the race, who want to obtain the prize, who want to be intentional about sacrificing one thing in order that they may gain something of greater and of eternal value in the kingdom of God. Those are the kind of givers that we welcome. If you’re that kind of person, I hope that you’ll partner with me and pay that price.

Some of you have a testimony that you want to get out to the world. Well, I can take it to places. I can take it to Africa. I can take it to China. I can take it to Mexico and to Columbia. If you have a story where God has rescued you from abortion or something else, or through an intervention process, or you have experienced God’s forgiveness in a powerful way over something that brought you tremendous pain, guilt and anguish, then you have a story to tell. Take time to write it out, make it sharp and clear. If you write to me something that’s one page or less, I will share it when I go to meet with people in other countries, including the one I’m about to head off to. So if you’re willing to pay the price in prayer, in giving and in sharing your own personal testimony of the changing work of God to the grace of the gospel, I will be glad to share it. You can send that to me through our website at passionlife.org and I will get it. I’ll share it with others to encourage them that we are all involved in a great race to obtain a prize that is eternal and glorious in nature. Thank you.