World Class
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. —Hebrews 12:1
Over the last few weeks, many of us were again caught up in the power of competition. It seems to happen every time the Olympics roll around. I mean, why would a Laker fan ever get excited about a Steph Curry 3-point barrage? And then there’s the not-so-well-known participants. World-class athletes we had never heard about, competing in global sports we never really cared about. But there we were, once again glued to our televisions, cheering them all on!
You may have noticed that, regardless of the venue, at least one thing never changes. Athletes compete in well-defined environments. Players don’t just play. Swimmers don’t just swim. And runners don’t just run. They all compete in limited spaces, defined by sidelines, baselines, foul lines, and finish lines. They perform on courts, inside pools, and within lanes. And every single venue was already clearly marked out for the athletes, well before any of them showed up to compete.
I guess the writer of Hebrews is simply overstating the obvious. Of course our race is clearly marked out. They all are!
Like any race, God has declared the parameters of the life-course you and I are to run. The Apostle Paul tees it up pretty clearly. “I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” (Acts 20:24)
You need to understand that Satan doesn’t care when we do good things. He’s really happy for us to do good things. He knows that good is the enemy of great! We could go to church every night of the week and he’d be able to figure out a work-around. He just wants to make sure that, whatever we do, it doesn’t lead to our taking seriously the one great thing that Jesus commissioned us to do. The Great Commission is simple. As we go, wherever we go, we want lost people to become Jesus-followers.
As you know, August 15 (8/15) is International Oikos Day. It provides us all an opportunity to take a deep breath, to look beyond whatever good plans we have for the day, and to be reminded of what is truly great. Maybe it can begin by reviewing our plans with the understanding that, in Christ, we’re world-class world changers. And that we’ll be spending that day, and every day, running a race that God has already prepared for us. And on a track marked by events He has strategically orchestrated and populated by people He has strategically placed in our paths.
So, as you look forward to the day’s anticipated events, remind yourself that any circumstance or environment will simply be a staging ground for God to do Kingdom work. When you think of the people you’ll see, remind yourself that those people will frame the reason why Jesus came to Earth in the first place.
As overwhelming as our lives can sometimes be, it’s good . . . no, scratch that! It’s actually great to remember that opportunities to change the world stare us in the face every single day. And those opportunities will have been marked out for us long before we ever show up.