Running to Win- Perseverance (1 Cor. 9:24-27)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, October 20, 2024

Dr. Thompson writes:

The prefrontal cortex (PFC), along with our language centers, is the part of our neurological system that sets us apart from all of God’s other created beings. Attention, memory, emotion, and attachment all come together and are integrated at the PFC. That’s why I often refer to this part of the brain as the Grand Central Station of the mind.

Dr. Thompson shares a time when his prefrontal cortex, that grand central station, did not work properly. He lost his temper with his three-year-old daughter.

How do we grow spiritually to live with joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? You may say, “Oh, Steve, that happens to all of us sometimes.” I agree. I have done it as well, but does that make it right? As Christians, don’t we want to grow beyond that?

Over the past few weeks, we have talked about persevering through things from the past. I have discussed how these could be sin issues or things that lead to sin. They may be physiological. However, we don’t want to “run in place.” We want to work on them. We want to grow. Last week, I shared that we may never conquer them, but we can make progress. That is what I want to talk about today. Perseverance. First, remember that I talked about generational traps. The devil and spiritual forces may set “generational traps.” Again, these may not be sins by themselves. Maybe the men in the family are passive. Maybe people are workaholics. Is that a sin? Maybe it is anxiety. A lot of these are inherited from our parents. Sometimes, it is not as much genetic, but exposure. When we are exposed, there are literal changes in the brain. The neat thing is that we can re-wire the brain again.

My theme today is:

Persevere through the Christian life.

1. Compete to win!
   1. Read with me 1 Cor. 9:24:
   2. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.
   3. We know of the Olympics.
   4. Well, they knew about the Olympics in Paul’s day. However, there was another type of Olympic games that took place in Corinth.
   5. These were called the Isthmian games.
   6. They were held every two years compared to the Olympics, which were held every four years.
   7. Paul is saying in a race, many may run, but only one receives the prize.
   8. You know, in Christianity, we can all receive a prize. Paul says run so that you can win.
   9. Let’s read 1 Cor. 9:25: Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
   10. You win by exercising self-control.
   11. That means eating right or exercising in sports; however, in Christianity that means following the Bible’s teaching, getting rid of sin and soaking up the fruit of the Spirit.
   12. The Olympic athletes did this for a perishable wreath; we do it for an imperishable crown of life. The pine garland was awarded at these Isthmian games (wild olive at the Olympic, parsley at the Nemean, etc.).
   13. Participants for the Olympic games had to swear by Zeus to follow ten months of strict training beforehand.
   14. We must run the Christian life as an Olympic athlete; we must be like Paul was.
   15. Realize some of the things we struggle with are deeply rooted:

The Christian psychiatrist, Dr. Thompson, shares an example of how we could respond to our wife based on how we responded to our mother when we were a child. In other words, when we were young, we learned certain responses. We subconsciously intuit certain things about the expression of our wife and respond in a certain manner. However, the intuition and expression are wrong. They are based on subconscious thinking from childhood.

• Keep moving forward in the Christian life.
  1. Look at verses 26-27:
  2. 1 Corinthians 9:26–27 (ESV)
  3. ²⁶ So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. ²⁷ But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
  4. We must run in such a way that is not without aim. He has a goal of winning people to salvation, and he has another goal.
  5. In Philippians 3:14: I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
  6. Paul writes, “I box in such a way as not beating the air.” This refers to boxers.
  7. Boxing was one of the major competitions at Greek games; boxers wore leather gloves covering most of the forearm except the fingers, and boxing was a violent sport. Shadowboxing or “beating the air” was insufficient preparation for a boxing competition; a boxer had to discipline his body better than that to win. In the same way, Paul had to discipline his life to sacrifice what he needed for the gospel’s sake, lest he be disqualified from the race and fall short of the wreath of eternal life.
  8. Paul says that he disciplines his body and makes it his slave.
  9. The term used for discipline literally means to hit under the eye. This was another boxing term.
  10. Paul knocked out the bodily impulses to keep them from keeping him from winning souls for Christ.
  11. He makes his body a slave: this is metaphorically like being a prisoner back from battle.
  12. Paul did this so he could serve Christ.
  13. Paul said that he did not want to be disqualified after preaching to others.
  14. What does that mean?
  15. After the athletic events, they would examine the athletes to make sure they had followed all the rules, and if they didn’t, they were shamefully disqualified.
  16. This leads us to the question: Did Paul think if he didn’t do enough, he could lose his salvation?
  17. Or was he referring to the rewards Christians receive in the New Jerusalem? There are rewards Christians receive for our service. That is Biblical.
  18. Did we do anything to earn our salvation? No. So, we cannot do anything to lose our salvation.
  19. However, our perseverance shows that we are saved.
  20. To stick with the athletic metaphor, how we act shows that we are on Jesus’ team and not the world’s team.
  21. If we are disrespectful and do not care, it may show that we are not Christians.
  22. If we are always gossiping and do not care, it shows that we are on team world, not team Christ.
  23. If sexual immorality does not bother us, it shows that we are on team world, not team Christ.
  24. If idols do not bother us, it shows that we are on team world, not team Christ.
  25. If jealousy does not bother us, it shows that we are on team world, not team Christ.
  26. If anger does not bother us, it shows that we are on team world, not team Christ.
  27. By the way, I pulled that list from Gal. 5:19-21.
• On the other hand, if we do not care about the things of God it shows we are on team world and not team Christ.

1. Do we care about love?

• Do we care about joyfulness?

1. Do we care about peace?
2. Do we care about patience?

• Do we care about kindness?
• Do we care about goodness?
• Do we care about faithfulness?
• Do we care about gentleness?
• Do we care about self-control?
• I am not talking about every moment, but when we fail, do we repent?
• Have we given up?

Tim Keller shares the following. He was in a sermon on Gen. 4:7 when God tells Cain that sin is “crouching” at his door with a desire to overtake him:

What does it mean to crouch down? Crouching down means one of two things. You crouch down, first of all, so the person won’t see you at all, or if they do see you, they’ll think you’re very small and not big, or asleep, or dead, or inert, or something. In other words, sin always presents itself to you as either a virtue, either something good (“I’m not a workaholic; I’m just productive”), or else it presents itself as something …

“Yeah. It’s a flaw. Yes. I really shouldn’t do that. Yes. I probably shouldn’t nurse that grudge. Yes. I probably shouldn’t have that attitude, but it’s not all that bad.” It’s crouching down. This is very interesting because it’s not only crouching down. Sin always stays hidden. It’s always trying to stay just off your radar. It’s always presenting itself as something else, and yet it uncoils someday.

When God says, “… sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it,” what he’s saying is we tend to walk on a razor’s edge. In the very, very earliest stages of self-pity, in the very earliest stages of bitterness, in the very earliest stages of pride or of prejudice, in the very earliest stages of greed, in the very earliest stages of some sort of addiction, in the very earliest stages, sin … you actually still have some control.

You know what’s going on. You really do. You can do something about it, but he says (here’s what’s interesting) when you give in to the greed, to the self-pity, to the prejudice, to the pride, to the selfishness, when you give in to the thoughts and the words and the deeds you shouldn’t … Sin is not just really a matter of just something that goes off into the air. Sin is not just a matter of personal choice. Sin is a power.

When you do a sin, it creates a force in your life. It creates a being. It takes shape. Isn’t this astounding? Do you think this is just metaphorical, when God says, “It wants to have you”? So the point is you give in to selfishness, you give in to pride, you give in to dishonesty, you give in to greed, you give in to these sorts of things, and next thing you know, you have created something in your life that shadows you.

In fact, almost literally, here’s what God says. He says, “If you do sin, sin will do you. Right now, you’re in a position where you can perform sin, but it won’t be long before it will come back, and it will have you. It will want you.” How can he talk about sin as if it’s an agent? The answer is because it has that kind of power in our lives.

Sin is not just something you do; it’s a power. Here’s what he’s saying. He’s saying it starts small, but it’s not long before it’s just taking you out. Gossips will find themselves being gossiped about. Haters will find themselves being hated. Cowards will be deserted. “Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.” People who will do anything to be popular will be the most unpopular people. Who would want somebody like that, no principles?

Do you know your crouching sins?

By definition, the things in your life right now that can most destroy you are the things you don’t think are that bad, the things you’ve been making excuses for. Let me give you a couple more examples. “I’m not a workaholic; I’m just productive. I’m not ruthless; I just have sharp business sense. I’m not stingy; I’m just prudent. I’m not bitter against the opposite sex; I’m just experiencing righteous moral outrage.”

In other words, sin always crouches down, but here’s what I want you to know. It will poison you. It will have you. You can’t stay bitter against the opposite sex without it hardening you and poisoning you and distorting your ability to assess individuals. It will screw you up. You can decide, “I’m going to stay bitter at my parents,” but it won’t be long before it will uncoil. It will poison you, and it will harden you, and it will embitter you in all sorts of ways you won’t even see. Of course, because that’s what it means to have you.

There’s nobody more under the power of something than someone who doesn’t know they’re under anybody’s power. Do you know your crouching sins? Or do you think I’m exaggerating? If you do, you’re so vulnerable. Do you know what they are? So the first thing we learn is sin is always a factor east of Eden. Sin is dangerous. Sin is powerful. Sin is subtle. Sin is nuanced. Sin is complex. Sin is hidden. It’s always hiding itself, and it’s always a factor. It’s always a problem. It’s always involved.[1]

[1] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

• Paul is talking about going through the Christian life like a race, running to the end.
• Paul is talking about perseverance. Paul is talking about striving for the crown.
• As a Christian we must keep working on these things.

• How?
  1. How do we work on these things?
  2. Make sure that you are humble, approachable, and teachable.
  3. You say, “Of course I am.”
  4. Are you really?
  5. Ask several people close to you if you are humble, approachable, and teachable.
  6. Make sure you are active in individual spiritual disciplines and community spiritual disciplines.
  7. The individual spiritual disciplines are your time in prayer and Scripture reading.
  8. The community spiritual disciplines are small groups and prayer partnerships.
  9. Do you know that when you write you are engaging the left and right brain? Dr. Thompson writes about that in his book.
  10. Slow down. Slow down. Slow down. Read poetry. Poetry also engages the right and left brain.
  11. Find hobbies.
  12. Do you know the commonality in grumpy old men is they do not engage in the arts.
  13. Talk to me. I would love to help you.
  14. You think, “I don’t need to talk to anyone, I am ok.” Well, I don’t think you are.
  15. Do you know the “Bob principle”? It is the principle that everyone notices something is off with Bob, but Bob does not realize it. Don’t be Bob; be self-aware.
  16. A few months back I was talking with someone who was going through intense grief. He had tears in his eyes. He is not sleeping; he is mean to his wife. I said, maybe you should talk with your pastor. He said, “I am ok.” I said, “I don’t think you are.” He is not okay. He is not sleeping; his health is poor.
  17. You can trick your mind, you can tell your mind you are okay, but you cannot trick the body. The body keeps the score. That same person was willing to see his doctor but not his pastor or a counselor. Why is that? Do we really think a pill will take care of it? Probably not.
  18. Medication may help, but we cannot always accept a simple solution. God wants us to do the hard work.
  19. Maybe you need to come in and talk with me and let me see if I can help you. Or, contact a Christian counselor. Make sure they are a Christian.
  20. There is something called the Johari Window:
  21. Johari Window: It is like a window pain
  22. We have the:
      1. Open self;
      2. Blind self;
      3. Hidden self;
      4. Unknown self
  23. There may be things that we are an open book about.
  24. There are other things that you are blind to, others see them, but you do not see them.
  25. There is the “hidden” part. This is a mask.
  26. Then there is the unknown. These are things you do not even know about yourself.
  27. It is important to spend prayer and contemplative time to know more about ourselves.
  28. As human beings, we complain about something, maybe a somatic issue with the body, maybe an overblown, maybe a person at work, hymns, or the thermostat, but usually the issue is more than that. It is much deeper.
  29. But don’t be too hard on yourself.
  30. Peephole story: you peep through a hole in a house…. You see a couple sitting and not talking. You think they are not emotionally aware; they can’t communicate. But then you keep looking and you see the wife go into the kitchen and start unloading the dishwasher. You see that her fingers are struggling because of arthritis. Then you see the husband come in and say, “I got this, you can go sit down.” They may not communicate that well, but that is why they are still married. They serve one another.
  31. Being more emotionally aware becomes a revelation of who you are.
  32. Quit running in place.
  33. Reread the material I shared last week about the daily office of meditation and prayer.
  34. The first step is having close Christian friends with whom you have honest conversations. Ask them: Am I a negative person? Am I a critical person? Am I depressed? Am I always complaining? Am I a gossip? Do I have self-control?
  35. Sometimes, I catch myself being critical, and I think, “NO!” I don’t want people to think, “Here comes Steve…” I want them to think, “There is Steve, he is the encourager.”
  36. A few months ago, we were leaving the fair. The parking lot was difficult to get out of. I thought these traffic guides did not know what they were doing. But then I caught myself. One of them was an older man. One was the Ohio Highway Patrol. I then thought, “I can’t criticize them. I don’t ‘know what they know.’ It is arrogant of me to be a critic. I don’t know enough.”
  37. Persevere in the Christian life. Don’t run in place. Finish well. Take these things seriously.

My friend and mentor Pastor Rick Sams wrote several articles on “Finishing Well. He writes the following in his August 29, 2024 newsletter article:

Persistence and finishing well must have resonated with a lot of readers of this column based on the feedback. The word “grit” is hardly ever used by anyone today, but it needs to be as relentless pursuit of anything is rare.

John Stephen Akhwari was never likely to win the men’s marathon, but his chances were wrecked when, perhaps because of the effects of the rarified air of Mexico City in the ‘68 Olympics, he succumbed to cramps that slowed his progress. If that was painful, then worse was to come after he was involved in a bruising battle of athletes jockeying for position.

Akhwari fell to the ground, gashing his knee and also causing a dislocation. Most observers, seeing his injuries, assumed he would pull out. Instead, he received medical attention and persisted in pounding the pavement again.

By now 18 of the 75 starters had pulled out; he did not want to be among them.

More than an hour after the winner, Akhwari finished…in LAST place. But he heard the cheers of more than a thousand spectators who stayed in the stadium till the last man finished. The medal winners had long left the podium. The only victor’s crown he showed was the tattered bandage blowing in the breeze.

He was asked about his grit, not in those terms. Then came this quotable, oft referred to in sporting legend and lore, “My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race,” he said. “They sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.”

There were two qualifications for competing in the ancient Olympic Games. You had to train according to the rules and you had to finish the race well. Near the end of his life “race” the apostle Paul reflected on how he ran his race: “Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules…For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 2:5; 4:6-7)

Akhwari kept pursuing a distance racing career. He finished fifth in the marathon at the Commonwealth Games in 1970 and also ran the 10,000m at the same championships. He was a good runner, never great. His greatness came from character and courage more than competence and championships. That’s also from where your greatness is most likely to come.[3]

[1] Thompson M.D., Curt. Anatomy of the Soul: Surprising Connections between Neuroscience and Spiritual Practices That Can Transform Your Life and Relationships (pp. 157-158). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

[2] Thompson M.D., Curt. Anatomy of the Soul: Surprising Connections between Neuroscience and Spiritual Practices That Can Transform Your Life and Relationships (pp. 96-97). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

[3] Marathon man Akhwari demonstrates superhuman spirit – Olympic News (olympics.com)