Now They Do It to Obtain a Corruptible Crown, but We an Incorruptible

Topic: Now They Do It to Obtain a Corruptible Crown, but We an Incorruptible.

Theme: So Run That You May Obtain: The Attitude of an Athlete.

Preaching Portion: 1 Corinthians 9:25:  And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

Introduction

It is said that attitude determines altitude. This means that a positive and determined mindset can significantly impact how high one can reach in life, both personally and professionally. It highlights the importance of how we think and react to challenges as these can determine our success and achievement. While a good attitude is beneficial, success also depends on hard work, opportunities, and other factors. I am of the view, that nowhere else other than in sport, is this phrase attitude determine altitude truer. This is because in sport, particularly athletics a positive and determined attitude or mindset which prioritises hard work and fitness are seen to be at the heart of every successful sportsperson especially athletes. I recently watched a video from a friend whose son was awarded a training scholarship in Brazil to train for football. In this video, I never saw this 14-year-old young man actually play a game, but I saw short clips of him in training. I saw the weight lifting, I saw the presses and the push ups, I saw the tactical drills, the endurance drills and I was amazed at the extent of the demands placed upon these young men by their coaches to get them ready for what would be merely friendly games amongst themselves. In addition to watching this young man's training videos, I have also heard stories of the gruelling training regime of some of the world’s top athletes and even of those not at the top. I also had a conversation with a young man preparing for his para trooper course and among the many excruciating things they are required to do is: they have to run a mile and a half in under 9 minutes.

As I think of all these athletes, sportspersons and soldiers, I hear the words of the apostle Paul saying: ‘Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown.’ Their crowns are corruptible, meaning that the joy of winning will be short lived. This is because the wreaths awarded athletes in those days soon withered. It is also because, as any conscientious sports person knows, you are only as good as your last success because life at the top, especially in sport, seldom lasts very long. Yet, in spite of the short-lived nature of their successes, Paul recognised the sincerity, dignity, sacrifice, commitment, motive and efforts of the athletes. Because, although they well understood that even the best trained athlete can still lose on the day, the best coached football side can still crash out of the tournament, and the best trained and skilled soldiers can still be lost in a war, it still requires diligence, discipline and determination, among other things, to even be in with a chance of success, even though the thing for which you strive is temporal. Neither were they fazed by the added realization that even if, against the odds, you make it to the end and win, in the long run, Father Time renders these achievements useless, forgotten or unheard of. Why? Because a new face or new kid on the block will smash previous records and set new ones. He will take the old athlete’s place; his face will replace theirs. He will steal their thunder and bask in the glory that was once theirs, because life moves on.

Yet in spite of all this, in spite of knowing that everything is all temporal, that it’s all transient, that it all soon fades, like the flowered wreaths won during the early games of which Paul spoke, modern day athletes, and sports persons and army vets and new-recruits still train and train and train and push their bodies to unimaginable limits just to let it fade. Yet people do it anyway. How much more should Christians put that kind of energy into living for Christ and into winning souls.    

And so, I hear Paul saying: Now if they put in all that effort just for a corruptible crown, tell me what kind of comparative effort we should be putting in for an incorruptible crown. A crown that doesn’t fade but is incorruptible’.

Those words added by Paul makes everything he said before even more significant and meaningful, especially in light of the admonition that he had given before when he said: ‘So, run, that ye may obtain’. This tells me therefore that in Paul’s mind, there is a way to run this Christian race. There is a way by which we need to go about our walk and it’s not an easy care free, trial free existence. In his admonition, Paul delineates some specific steps which the Christian runner must take. He says in verses 25-27: ‘And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.  I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so, fight I, not as one that beateth the air:  But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.’

In breaking down Paul’s thesis in my own words, word by word, I find the following truths: There is the need to strive – so effort is needed. There is the need to be temperate- therefore patience is needed. By use of the word ‘obtain’, Paul indicates that there is reward to be obtained and reward is indicative of being recompensed for performance of some act. The apostle also says there is a need to run which suggests ongoing activity or action is involved. He also makes mention of the term ‘not as uncertainly’-This suggests no-uncertainty but a steady disciplined, dedicated focused approach. He qualifies his approach by stressing with the phrase ‘not as one that beateth the air’- This indicates that there ought to be no futile ineffective or useless efforts. Paul stresses ‘I keep under my body’ as in I maintain my body by diligent, thoughtful, conscious, observance of my actions; and ‘bring it into subjection’- indicting the perfecting of mastering control over the whole body politic, keeping all functions in line. In saying ‘lest’ he is giving a reason for his meticulous action- so as not to risk losing. ‘That by any means’-Paul is indicating his awareness- of loopholes and dangers which should be guarded against. When Paul says ‘lest when I have preached to others’, he’s saying I acknowledge it as my responsibility to be an example to someone else, a responsibility I take seriously. He then says ‘I myself’- meaning, it’s not someone else’s job to do it for me. I need do it for myself. Then he closes by saying ‘should be a castaway’- meaning I need diligence so as not to end up blowing my chances and not winning that prize. Is Paul here saying that we work for our salvation? and we are in danger of losing it? I don’t think so. The passage is just another one in scripture where the apostle Paul uses a simple and common analogy to convey a profound Spiritual truth which is not unusual to Paul. In Ephesians 6 Paul also uses another analogy about the dress of a soldier to convey and clarify the rudiments of spiritual warfare. In this passage, the whole thrust of Pauls reasoning is that Christians need discipline and self-control in their lives, comparing the Christian life to the discipline of athletes in a race. Paul reminds believers that while athletes strive for a perishable prize, Christians strive for an imperishable, eternal reward. His emphasis therefore is on the importance of focusing on long-term spiritual goals rather than temporal short term earthly rewards. Paul therefore encourages believers to adopt a disciplined lifestyle, not just for the sake of earthly success, but for the sake of their eternal reward.