Dear Brethren and Co-workers with Christ,
Another Summer Olympics has come and gone. Athletes from around the world came to Paris to compete for medals and glory. If you tuned in to the coverage, you saw some of the thrills of victory and the agonies of defeat. Countrymen of major nations counted the numbers of gold, silver, and bronze medals, while small countries reveled when their lone representative prevailed to take a place on the winner’s stand. How sweet it must be for athletes who love their country to hear their national anthem. For some, it was hard to hold back the tears of pride and joy.
The French rejoiced in their many victories, especially those of Léon Marchand, who brought home the gold and is arguably the greatest French swimmer of all time. Give him his due—he worked for it, as did many other athletes from across the world. However, Paris embarrassed itself in its opening ceremony—not only in its corruption of Leonardo da Vinci’s portrayal of the Last Supper, but in its strange display of sexual license. Organizers were rightfully and soundly criticized from diverse sources around the world for their shameful choices representing French values. Setting aside their blasphemous opening ceremony, the French put on quite a show for the world.
Athletes prepared for this Olympics for years. They sacrificed time and money. They bore painful injuries and bodily scars. Many endured surgeries along with weeks and months of rehab—the result of falls and pushing their bodies further than bones, muscles, and ligaments could withstand. What we often forget is the reservoir of aspirants who gave it their all, but failed to make their nation’s team. It may appear that the number of Olympians is large, but it is a fraction of the many who do not make it. We rarely hear of the price they paid in their pursuit of glory and gold.
Nevertheless, one must admire how much effort and sacrifice the participants put into the pursuit of a physical goal. They put other hopes and dreams on hold, spend endless hours in practice, and push themselves in ways that the rest of us are unable or unwilling to do. But for what? This is not a trivial question, and it has implications for you and me.
We need to realize that we are in a race for life—life beyond the grave. Temporal glory cannot compare to that supreme prize. As with Olympic athletes, we must put forth effort to obtain the crown of life. “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him” (James 1:12). Do you, dear friends, love God? Are you willing to endure and strive against the temptations of sin?
Pursuing the crown of life requires sacrifices and keeping our priorities in line. Often those sacrifices come with pain. As the Apostle John recorded, brethren living in the second era of the Church of God, the first few centuries after the apostles, would suffer prison and death for their obedience to God. “Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10). Think about it! Are you willing to go that far to receive an imperishable crown? Remember what Jesus said in Luke 14:26. Look it up and meditate on it.
Yes, there is a crown of righteousness available to those willing to put God first, no matter the cost. At the end of his life, after many severe trials in service to Christ, Paul was able to say to Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7–8). I hope you look forward to Christ’s appearing and pray daily, “Your kingdom come.”
Olympians push themselves to great limits to obtain glory and honor. A few of them receive medals to display on a wall or in a cabinet. For the rest of their lives, they no doubt rewind in their minds those races and feats—trying to recapture the moment. Yes, they surely look back on their accomplishments with great satisfaction and we can rejoice with them, but living in the past is a futile pursuit. They may find a picture of themselves on a breakfast cereal box, displayed on billboards, or on television ads pitching shoes or arthritis cures. One thing is certain: For all the glory, what they sacrifice so much for is temporary.
For those who fell short, or didn’t make their team, they will have sacrificed much, only to live in obscurity, far from the applause and worship of admirers. Many will suffer chronic pain for the rest of their lives from accidents and bodily abuse, but even for the victors, Olympic glory comes to an end. Records fall and one generation replaces another. All too soon, names that are famous today are forgotten. Whether they experience the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat, none of their efforts gain the ultimate crown—eternal life. That is the crown that you who are reading this are most likely seeking.
Paul was familiar with the ancient Greek Olympic games of his day, and he compared the athletes’ efforts with those of us who seek this greater reward. “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:24–27).
Paul compared us to soldiers as well as to athletes: “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus…. You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules” (2 Timothy 2:1–5).
We do not hear the applause of adoring fans. We do not find ourselves displayed on billboards or cereal boxes. We do not receive the monetary rewards of television endorsements. While we do not begrudge Olympians those rewards, we seek an eternal reward, a crown that does not fade away (1 Peter 5:4). We look forward to the day when we stand before the Creator of heaven and earth and hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21, 23).
Dear brethren and co-workers, thank you for all you do that we may collectively fulfill Christ’s command to take the one and only true Gospel to this world, to warn the world of the troubles to come unless mankind turns and goes another direction, and to strive to turn many to righteousness. May we all seek the reward God described to the prophet Daniel: “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever” (Daniel 12:3).
Sincerely, in Christ’s service,
Gerald E. Weston