Some thought I was quite humble last week, writing about coaching without sharing that our tennis team won the state championship. Actually, that ‘journey’ was written before we played and got hung up in cyberspace. As we’re in the final week of school, this will probably be my last writing until after summer.
As a coach, I’ve sometimes struggled with the quest to win. Jesus said if you want to be first then you must be last. How does that work in athletics? Paul helps a little by writing: “If anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules.” (II Tim. 2:5) And “Do you not know that in a race all runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” (I Cor. 9:24) Of course, it is evident as you read these verses in context that Paul desires his readers to gain spiritual understanding, but I’ve concluded that in athletics God wants us to do our best, to represent Him, and to keep all things in His hands.
Caedmon’s Call sings this song: “The Lord is a Warrior; the Lord is mighty in battle. The Lord is a Warrior; Lord of Hosts is He.” Is this true? Did Jesus of Nazareth fight? On earth, was He concerned with winning? In Heaven, is Jesus looking for victory? How can the One who teaches us to turn the other cheek be described as a Mighty Warrior?
Jesus came to earth as God’s strategy to win the ultimate victory: “‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (I Corinthians 15:55-57) Jesus knew He was in a battle on earth and He knows He will ride the white horse as the victorious King of Kings on the last day, but He only fights with His Father’s weapons… and so must we. Jesus said some harsh things to the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law in Israel, but He knew his enemy was not flesh and blood. His Father created all human beings; the devil captured all human beings with sin; and Jesus came to set the captives free. Jesus’ words often aimed to jolt a person the Father loved into the Truth that would bring freedom. Only those who have ears to hear and a heart to believe can be brought into the Kingdom of Light.
So Jesus was the greatest Warrior… and He still is. As His followers, we must hear and obey His unusual, but powerful strategies. The enemy hits us with meanness, anger, deceit, slander, and all types of evil. Our human nature says: “Strike back harder! Defend yourself vigorously! Bring out the faults of your accuser…” But these methods only result in Satan’s tighter grip. Man’s ways do not bring God’s victory. Jesus taught: “Love your enemy. Pray for those who do you wrong. Give a gift to someone who steals from you. Be merciful as your Father in Heaven is merciful. This will bring the victory that really counts.” It is only the courageous man or woman who is bold enough to live this way. “This meekness seems like weakness! I will look like a fool! What about justice?” All the natural questions arise as we find ourselves in difficult spots, but Jesus simply smiles and says, “Follow Me… I know the true enemy and I know how to win.”
“I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues – last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name.” Revelation 15:1-2
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” II Corinthians 10:3-5