But still my two young ones persevere; they practice almost every day. This particular season my daughter's high school team managed to make it to state competition. Parents and coaches could not be more proud. There will be side stitches and no small degree of physical pain, as many of them cross the finish line that day. But there is also glory in the big finish I think. Once you cross through the final stretch and get your time, it is almost euphoric. Your body gets to rest, and your mind resets. You did it ... you accomplished the goal.
In much the same way, many of the saints that went on before us in the Bible ask you and I to stay the course on our faith journey. We are to run the race as best as we can - side stitches and all.
Galatians 6:9 says, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
But there are obstacles to our faith that make it easy to give up. Things that get in the way of us doing our best and finishing the race. Truth be told, it is a big deal for some of us simply to get up in the morning and make it to church on Sunday. I want to address three areas that I believe can have an impact on whether or not we continue fighting the good fight.
The first area has to do with church culture. Does a church truly accept people as they are? Can someone show up in ripped blue jeans and still be welcomed? Will a newcomer feel out of place or right at home? Studies have shown that people make up their mind about a place within the first thirty seconds. That is a narrow margin for success. It doesn't give us much time to say or do all the right things.
The second area that can be a deterrent to our faith walk is the baggage that people around us may be carrying. Do the people in your life support your belief in God, or do they accuse you of being a 'religious extremist?' Do you come from a faith friendly background, or do you have a set of friends or family who has been hurt by someone in the church? Sometimes, all it takes is to be categorized as Christian, and there will be people in your circle of influence who might seek to undermine your belief system.
Finally, our faith walk can be difficult because of our own baggage. What weighs on our own consciousness as we attempt to live a godly life? Do we have more doubts about God than we are letting on? Do we struggle with things from our own childhood or past that might stand in the way of us accepting Jesus now? For many of us, coming to God is a matter of stamping out our own pride and ego. In order to accept forgiveness from sin, we must first acknowledge that we have sinned. Sound fun? Not so much.
Now let's visit our example again from cross country a moment ago. Most of us know that when it comes to any sport, you need a coach or mentor in order to excel. If coaches weren't pushing the high school team to run faster and harder, then there is little doubt they would not be heading to state competition. Indeed, without a coach in our corner, we would begin to run slower and slower. Eventually, maybe our practises would look more like fast walking than it would running.
I believe it works the same way with spiritual things also. If we are not going to church regularly, if we don't have a pastor or leader, if we don't attend the occasional small group - we begin to run slower. It becomes easier to get off track ... to believe things that don't line up with the Bible. We can begin to assimilate back into popular culture.
Take Hebrews 10:25 for instance. It says, "do not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another..." Apparently, missing church was a problem even two thousand years ago. We must continue to come together regularly. Continue to encourage, build up, and edify each other. It is so much easier to finish a race when there are other teammates beside you, and a coach that believes in you. There is no need to go it alone.
But what are the rewards that come from staying in the race? Again, I will mention three things. First, if we stay in the race, I believe it strengthens our faith. We can move from a superficial faith which asks 'what can God do for me', to a mature faith that asks 'what can I do for God?' The difference is palpable.
Second, it allows for us to have a deep and intimate connection to God the Father. This comes into play in both our day to day lives, as well as those occasional desperate moments when we really need someone in our corner. Staying in the race means we get to partner with God and other believers, in order to bring a message of saving grace to those we know and love. It allows us to shine God's light out into the community.
Finally, fighting the good spiritual fight means that we get to have lives full of meaning and eternal weight. There is simply no comparison between the person who lives the selfish life, and someone walking in the faith who is living according to God's will. It would be like comparing week old bread to something fresh out of the oven. One bite of the fresh stuff, and you are hooked! It is better to serve God than to serve ourselves.
Little doubt there will be a finish line for each of us someday. God doesn't expect us to exist in this confusing (and often dark) world forever. There will be a time for the believer when we leave this world and come into eternal joy. And it is at this place where we will get to repeat the words of 2 Tim 4:7, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."
I pray that each of us can keep fighting the good fight, and not give up. And in so doing, help to make the world around us just a little bit kinder, a little brighter, and a bit more reflective of Christ's light. It's so much easier to see the way when the path is well lit. Keep the lantern burning; keep fighting. Finish strong.
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