Sermon Tone Analysis

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Focused on Winning

 

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 an imperishable.

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.[1]

Vince Lombardi, head coach of the National Football League Green Bay Packers during the years that the team was a perennial powerhouse, sometimes motivated his teams by saying, “Winning isn’t everything; it is the only thing.”

Though Lombardi was speaking of football, those words are assuredly applicable to the Christian life.

The Christian life is frequently compared to an athletic contest in Paul’s letters.

He was obviously familiar with the various contests, and certainly aware of the Isthmian Games held near Corinth.

In our text for the message this morning, the Apostle uses these games to encourage the saints in Corinth to strive for excellence in the Faith.

The Christian life is not a life of ease and luxury—not if it is real.

The Corinthians, like many contemporary Christians, were so focused on freedom and privilege and they forgot that rewards will only be handed out at the conclusion of the race.

They were sacrificing the permanent on the altar of the temporary.

Though we are saved, we are nevertheless required to live a life of discipline, exerting ourselves to excel.

Our goal must be to please Christ.

We must all appear before His Judgement Seat, where we will give an account of our life and service.

We labour, knowing that He shall soon appear; and knowing that many of the professed saints of the Lord Jesus will undoubtedly be ashamed at His appearing.

We will never be ashamed before the Master if we make every effort to build one another up in the Faith.

However, we may well be censured because we have injured one another and sought to advance our own interest at the interest of fellow believers who are children of the Lord, just as we are.

The Apostle was compelled to defend himself before the Corinthian believers.

The church had tolerated puffed up, wannabe apostles who were speaking ill of Paul.

The leadership had not defended him when he was slandered, and eventually, some of the mud that these self-important leaders had slung stuck—at least in the estimate of the congregation.

Paul defends his right to receive support from those benefiting from his service, though he hastens to remind them that he voluntarily surrendered that right.

He also defends his approach to service by reminding the Corinthians that he had treated everyone with respect in order to lead as many as possible to life in Christ the Lord.

With these reminders established before the congregation, the Apostle writes in a hortatory manner, encouraging the Corinthian saints through pointing to his own life.

Though contemporary accounts describe the Apostle as an apparently small man who was weak and with poor eyesight, he obviously enjoyed sporting events.

He made repeated references to sporting contests in his letters, and he now encourages the Corinthians through comparing his service before the Lord—and theirs—as an athletic contest.

The Christian Life is a Race Requiring Diligence of those Who Run.

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.

The Isthmian Games, hosted by the city of Corinth and held nearby, were one of the four great pan-Hellenic festivals, ranking second only to the Olympic Games and above those of Delphi and Nemea.

The prestige of the Games was enhanced by a tradition that went back to the sixth century bc, and they were held every two years.

Every competitor in these games was obliged to undergo a severe and protracted training lasting ten months.

During this time, the athlete was required to carefully avoid excesses of every kind.

A passage from Epictetus, the Greek Stoic Philosopher, illustrates this text so well that it is cited to this day by many commentators:

 

*Would you be a victor in the Olympic games?

So in good truth would I, for it is a glorious thing; but pray consider what must go before, and what may follow, and so proceed to the attempt.

You must then live by rule, eat what will be disagreeable, refrain from delicacies; you must oblige yourself to constant exercises at the appointed hour, in heat and cold; you must abstain from wine and cold liquors; in a word, you must be as submissive to all direction of your master as to those of a physician*.[2]

Paul clearly has the “games” in mind, for he speaks of running in a stadium.

Although */en stadío/* may be translated either in a race or in a stadium (more regularly), it alludes to the stadium in which the Pan-Hellenic Isthmian games were held.

The stadium would include not only foot races, but also athletic contests of other kinds (e.g., boxing).

Victors in the competitions were awarded a crown (*/stéphanos/*)—a wreath that was crafted from wild olive leaves for the Olympian games, and made of pine leaves for victors at the Isthmian games.

The crown awarded the victor in these ancient games doubtless furnished the metaphor that is used frequently throughout the New Testament (*2 Timothy 2:5*; *4:8*; *James 1:12*; *1 Peter 5:4*; *Revelation 2:10* and *3:11*).

Paul reminds readers that we are in a race, and that in a race all the runners compete.

When he writes, so run that you may obtain [the prize], he moves the analogy out of the realm of the theoretical and into the realm of daily life for Christians.

Christians */are/* in a contest, whether they wish to be competitors or not.

However, the contest in which we are engaged is not a competition with one another; it is rather a competition with our own fallen nature.

We know too well the drag of sin that keeps us from honouring Christ in this challenge of being godly and of bringing the lost to faith.

Paul never allows his converts to dream of the indefectibility of grace, and so to slide into antinomian security.

He often reminds those who would follow Christ of the extreme severity and continuousness of the contest in which we compete.

He writes in *Ephesians 6:12* that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

In *1 Timothy 6:12*, he urges Timothy, and us, to /fight the good fight of the faith/.

He continues by urging Timothy to take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

To be Victorious in the Race Requires Discipline.

Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.

They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.

Winners receive rewards.

Those who win athletic contests receive rewards that serve as acknowledgement of excellence and recognition of the self-discipline and the perseverance of those who succeed.

The rewards that are in view in this particular passage are not necessarily tangible rewards that we may anticipate at Christ’s return; but rather the Apostle appears to have in mind the need to serve God with diligence, thus sharing in the glory that is His through bringing others into the light of life.

Those who serve will share in Christ’s glory.

Paul is addressing stronger Christians at this point.

He has appealed to them to show consideration for weaker Christians, but now he is cautioning them against thinking of themselves as so strong that they have no danger of falling.

In fact, he will strongly stress that point in *1 Corinthians 10:12*, where he warns, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

Many “strong” saints have fallen hard.

The Apostle Peter says that the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour [*1 Peter 5:8*].

Incautious Christians obtain a new name—*victim*!

To avoid becoming a victim requires discipline.

Throughout this passage, Paul speaks of the self-discipline required for athletes to participate in the games.

We know this to be true when we think of Olympians that compete in either the Summer Games or in the Winter Games.

They train for four years for a contest that may last mere seconds.

The various sprints are won or lost in seconds.

Some of the skating events are over almost before they begin.

We admire the Olympians precisely because we recognise the self-discipline they have exercised for a long time in order to compete in the games.

Paul’s point is that if those participating in the Games were so dedicated as to submit to deprivation in order to have a chance to be honoured by receiving a wreath that would shortly become brittle and turn to dust, then, we should practise an even more rigorous discipline since we will each receive a crown that is imperishable.

I want to return to the point I raised at the beginning of the message, that a favourite metaphor in the New Testament is the victor’s crown—the wreath awarded those who won at the various Greek games.

In the New Testament, we read of several “crowns”—the crown of righteousness [*2 Timothy 4:8*], the crown of life [*James 1:12*], the amaranthine crown of glory [*I Peter 5:4*], and the crown of boasting [*1 Thessalonians 2:9*].

Though we cannot speak with certainty what these crowns are, we nevertheless know that they are rewards promised to the people of God for faithful service before the Lord.

For instance, the crown of boasting mentioned in *1 Thessalonians 2:9* appears to be associated with the people who have come to faith through our work and through our witness.

When you prayed, asking God to speak to the heart of another, and when you told another of the salvation that you have found in Christ, some heard and believed.

Those redeemed souls become for you an eternal blessing as you share in the glory that belongs to Christ the Lord.

Each becomes for you the crown of boasting.

Pastors who laboured faithfully at the task assigned of feeding the flock are promised the crown of glory [*1 Peter 5:1-4*].

Those who served in order to obtain recognition from man, or to receive monetary compensation, have their reward now.

However, those who laboured among the people of God, faithfully proclaiming the Word of God, will share in the glory of saints built up and kept to the coming of Christ Jesus.

The Apostle’s goal in labouring with the Corinthians was to present the church as a pure virgin to Christ at His return [*2 Corinthians 11:2*].

Likewise, writing the Colossian Christians, Paul spoke of his work among the churches, proclaiming Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ [*Colossians 1:28*].

He continued by speaking his work as toil requiring him to struggle with all his energy that he powerfully works within me [*Colossians 1:29*].

In a similar fashion, pastors who are appointed by God to the task He has assigned labour among the saints, yearn over the flock to be pure before God and toil to ensure that those who attend the preaching and teaching week-by-week will become mature in Christ.

God takes note of the Christian that withstands the pressure of life, promising that one the crown of life [*James 1:12*].

When you pass through trials, you may feel weak and you may think that you are a failure; but when you persevere, drawing strength from the Master instead of relying on your own strength, God takes note and He has promised to reward you before saints and angels.

Oh, that we could each learn the great message Paul brought to us when we wrote of his own weakness!

As he pleaded with the Master to take away the thorn in his flesh, Jesus answered, saying, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

As result of learning to depend on Christ for strength in the disappointments of life, the Apostle came to the conclusion, /I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities/.

Paul then summarises what he learned with these words, when I am weak, then I am strong [*2 Corinthians 12:9, 10*].

God notes our dependence on His strength as we pass through the trials of life, and He is pledged upon His holy honour to remember us as by calling us to share in His glory.