Running the race: illustrated

Paul, knowing the culture in which he was writing, often compared common sporting events of the day to the Christian life. His favorite seemed to be the race. It is one of the oldest and simplest of all sports - everyone line up and run as fast as you can to the finish line, the first one there wins.

In 1 Corinthians, he reminds the church that only one runner is the winner and therefore challenged them to "run in such a way as to get the prize." The writer of Hebrews describes all those people of faith who have gone before us and encourages us to fix our eyes on Christ as we "run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

Those illustrations become much more real when you see them up close and personal.

Last week, my 7 year old son Wesley went to a runner's camp put on by a local church. He loves to run, so we thought he would enjoy it. He loved it. All week long, he ran laps at the camp so that he could earn a gold medal. You had to run 25 laps over four days to earn gold. He ran 37. He earned his gold medal.

On Friday night, they have a track meet a local high school where all the kids compete. Wesley signed up for the hurdles, 400 meters and 800 meters. We were all a little nervous about the whole thing, especially me. Daddy's just get that way when their kids are doing sports.

He ran the 400 meters first. Racing with boys his age and above, he finished second overall and first for his age group (even while turning around and looking backwards once (another Bible lesson there) and skipping sideways another time). In the hurdles, he won his timed heat, but two other boys ran faster in their heat. So he had won a first and a third place ribbon heading into his last event - 800 meter.

Earlier, we had been talking about how well Wesley ran and how much he could run, but it is a whole different thing when you actually see your just turned 7 year old little boy lined up to run two full laps around a track with most of the people a year or two older than him.

He got jostled to the back at the beginning of the race, so he had to make his way back up to the front toward the end of the first lap. Like Paul, Pam and I tried to encourage using something that Wesley, our audience, would understand. We told him to run the first lap and then on the last turn of the last lap to use a boost mushroom like Mario Kart Wii.

By the time he got through the crowd heading into the second lap, two older boys had pulled about 1/4 of a lap ahead of him. But he was running ahead of everyone else, most of whom was older than him. In the last turn, you could tell he was starting to fade a little. Another older boy was catching up to him. But then he turned the corner and from the other end of the track I could see it in his eyes. I turned and told Pam, "He just hit the mushroom."

He started sprinting down the track. The other older boy started running harder, too. They were both flying down the back stretch. At the tape, Wesley run by a hair (Photo, he's the one in the blue). He finished third overall, but first in his age group by a long way.

After he crossed the finish line, he sat down and started crying because his side was killing him. Pam can't tell the story without crying. Me? I smile because I know that if he plays sports that will not be the last time his side kills him from running.

But I realized that Wesley perfectly demonstrated the point Paul and other New Testament writers were trying to illustrate. Even if you are hurting. Run. Even if other people are trying to knock you off course. Run. There are prizes to be had. Run. It's not really about how you start, but how you finish. Run.

After the race was over and he got all his ribbons, the pain was forgotten (if it wasn't then, it definitely was when we stopped for ice cream later).

One day, the race will be over and the prizes given out. All the pain and problems will be forgotten. The only regret that could possible happen at that moment will be one of, "I wish I would have run just a little bit harder. I could have pushed myself just a little bit more."

Paul's challenge with words was Wesley's challenge with actions: Run and get the prize.