The Athletes of Christ
The recent Olympic Games in Beijing are everything that matters
these days. The Olympic spirit is with us wherever we turn. World
records are broken everyday, races are tighter than ever. Everybody
talks about Michael Phelps winning with just one hundredth of a second
advantage. Such stories of epic proportions feed our TV screens with
unending commentaries and replays.
In this Olympiad-euphoria somebody asked me the other day: Could Michael Phelps become a saint if he wanted? I asked why and the answer came: He's got the determination to become anything he wants, isn't he? That got me thinking because the Christians have been compared with athletes before, athletes of Christ.
An athlete like Michael Phelps is seen by everyone as a phenomenon, a hero gifted with superpowers that can win any competition with a Herculean lift of his enormous wingspan. Yet fewer realize that talent and physical abilities are only part of the story. In a recent interview Phelps admitted "Eat, sleep and swim, that's all I can do". In the past year he only had a couple of days in which he did not touch the water; in other words total dedication to the sport.
In a peculiar way the life of an Olympiad is similar to the life of an athlete of Christ. The Olympiad trains himself everyday to reach perfection in his game, the athlete of Christ struggles daily to reach God through unceasing prayer.
The Olympiad avoids fatty foods
that would bring unnecessary weight on him, the athlete of Christ fasts
of everything that could bring temptation in his body consuming only
that which is beneficial and uplifting for the soul "let us lay aside
every weight and the sin which so easily besets us, and let us run with
patience the race that is set before us" (Heb 12:1)
The Olympiad
strives to win the golden medal of man, the athlete of Christ presses
"toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus". (Php 3:14).
The Olympiad races toward a goal. But what
is his goal? To win as many races as possible. Then what? What do you
do with the winning: make money from commercial endorsements and tell
stories boasting about his success? What's the final purpose of an
Olympic racing other that proving your superiority over the others,
being the fastest, the strongest or the most beautiful? It is probably
an extreme feeling but in the end it is nothing but a game.
Some
people say is a celebration of human nature, is pushing the limits to
the extremes of our physical capabilities. It is the same ideal of the
humanist Greeks that worshiped the man form in everlasting works of
art. They are the ones who invented the Olympic Games as a feast of the
body, its strength and its beauty. But it all stops here, on earth: man
races, man wins, man applauds, and man gives prizes: an earthly
ambition that leads nowhere.
The athlete of Christ on the other hand has no such aspirations. He knows that he cannot win alone, that he needs to take his competitors with him in paradise. "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. Now there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that Day; and not to me only, but also to all those who love His appearing.(2Ti 4:7-8)
The athlete of Christ is devoid of personal ambition because if he wants to win his life he has to loose it. He does not want the cheers of the crowd, or the gold of the judges, he only wants Christ to say: "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful over a few things; I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord."(Mat 25:21).
The race we compete in is not a game; this is the most important difference between an Olympiad and an athlete of Christ. It is not about winning or loosing, is about becoming something else, getting out of the lazy skin of a spectators and becoming players in the race of our own lives. This is not a passing time for relaxation, this is not as watching TV, but it is life lived at its maximum intensity.
A father said to me once: man have no time for God because they loose their time in playing games. Isn't this true? Obsessed with basketball, football, baseball and now the Olympics until late night, we let our lives pass by and forget all about our spiritual duties. We let these games to become our obsession so we forget our own competition, our own goals, being swept in the glamorous success of others we see on the screen.
However, properly understood and channeled the Olympic spirit could prove beneficial. We can learn from the Olympiads a lesson of life. We all need to be athletes that are not just running the race to communion on Sundays, but prepare for deification - theosis - every day through the continuous exercising - askesis - of our bodies and souls. Prayer is an enduring race, charity a painful test, love is a life changing event. We train our spiritual skills everyday, hoping that God will complete our works with His grace and make us worthy in the end of the winner's podium.
The prize we seek is not gold, silver or bronze. It cannot rot, nor can be stolen, nor taken back, if we make it to the end of the race. Our prize is "the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him". (Jas 1:12) It is not a prize for everyone, but only for those who struggle and work for it everyday, without ceasing. "behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to each according as his work is" (Rev 22:12)