“And if a man strive for the masteries, yet he is not crowned, except he strive lawfully.”
Paul used the good athlete to give one description of what it is required of an effective Christian witness. First, he wrote that a good athlete has to “strive lawfully.” How we would say that today is “that a person cannot be a good athlete unless he, or she, plays by the rules.” There is no athletic endeavor that does not require that one play by the rules. If he, or she, is a runner, he, or she has to stay in his, or her, lane. The racer finishes the race in the same lane that he started in. We cannot be effective Christians if we do not live by true Christian principles. One cannot decide that he can claim the name of Christ, and then continue in the life he was living before accepting Jesus. Jesus makes a difference in the way we live. A football player cannot take the ball and run anywhere he wants. He must stay in the bounds of the field. Of course the major rule is that to become a Christian one needs to accept Christ as his, or her, Savior. I could go on and on with this, but I think you understand what I mean. Second, if a good athlete plays by the rules, he. or she, will strive to be a good teammate. Of course, I am talking about getting along well with fellow players. A lot of good teams have run afoul because of problems with players on the same team. When we accept Christ, we will not be in it alone. We will have to live in fellowship with fellow Christians in a church, or whatever where you attend calls it. Like many a good teams have run afoul because of trouble between team mates, many a church has run afoul because of problems between fellow Christians. One of the main rules in sports, and in church, is that people work together to be best team possible. Third, if a good athlete plays by the rules, he will have good sportsmanship. This includes playing by the rules and being a good teammate. A good athlete will try to be in good relationships with his, or her, teammates. The good athlete will play with good sportsmanship with opposing teams. Nothing can mess up a team like people cheating and ignoring the rules. This is particularly true of fellowship in a Christian church. There will be disagreements among Christians, but they can be solved by remembering that we are in the work for Christ, and that He can help us solve every problem in His spirit. It would be great if this was always the case in church fellowship. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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