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And The Winner Is...
Paul tells Christians to “run in such a way that you may win” (I Cor. 9:27).
There was a girl’s cross-country race not too long ago. It was an important one as it was a qualifier for the state championship. Hundreds of girls were there to give it their all. The gun is fired and everyone starts at the same time, all bunched up. They start at the same time but they do not finish at the same time. Let me tell you about three girls and ask you, “Who won the race?”
It should be an easy question to answer. The girl who crossed the finish line first won the race. And that is true. On this day, the first girl to cross had a blazing pace and left everyone behind. She won with ease but there couldn’t be anything easy about her victory. It was obvious that she had trained hard and done everything she needed to be ready for that day. She wasn’t born the best; she had disciplined herself to be the fastest. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if she had watched her diet and only eaten the food that would give her energy rather than drag her down. She won the race, right?
Before you answer the question about who won, though, you need to hear about two other girls.
Girl number two was the exact opposite of first. She was the last girl to finish the race. She did not have a runner’s body, if you know what I mean, but that didn’t keep her from joining the cross-country team. She also knew exactly what her place was as she came within a half-mile view of the finish line. Right behind her, the escort truck followed. She was definitely last. In front of her, not a runner to be seen. There was no one to catch. No illusion of coming in first or even of avoiding being in last place. Her body ached. Sweat poured over her as she heaved out each laborious breath. She couldn’t win, but she didn’t quit. She was the last girl to finish, but she did finish.
Consider also girl number three. She had hoped to set a personal record and to qualify for the state championship. That didn’t happen. As she came into view of the finish line most of the girls had already crossed it. Too many, in fact. She looked exhausted. Beaten down and hopeless with nothing left in the tank to give for the final stretch. She crossed the last line and broke into tears as teammates, friends, and family consoled her and congratulated her for finishing the race even if it wasn’t the time she had hoped for. Her story would end there had it not been for a race official approaching later on and finding her family. He needed to tell them what had happened somewhere along that long stretch where spectators were not allowed. Another girl had fallen and hurt herself. Girl three, despite the importance of the race and the fact that this hurt girl was running for a rival team, stopped and helped the hurt girl. Number three encouraged her to keep running and to not give up. The race official witnessed this and said he hadn’t seen anything quite like it.
Now I ask you, who won the race?
One conquered the field. One conquered herself. One showed what mattered most. In my book, they are all winners. Christianity is like that. We are all running the same race, but everyone who finishes may win in different ways. Some may win for their amazing righteousness. They’ve worked hard to be holy and devout Christians. Sin seems to have no hold over them whatsoever. Some may win for their relentless perseverance. Life is hard and everyone seems to be better than them, but they simply will not quit. Some run the race focused on encouraging everyone around them, picking up the wounded and exhorting the exhausted. They may cross the finish line at different times, but they each cross and there is a crown of life waiting for them all.
Run in such a way that you may win.
