Run the Race: Fix Your Eyes on Jesus

And then what we do as a follower of Jesus is what are what is everybody focused on right now, and then what does the Bible have to say about it? And so today, we get to talk about the Olympics. Little bit of fun stuff going on. I don't know if you guys saw this morning. I'm sure you did. Right? We got our gold medal today, and I am extremely excited that the that The United States Men's Hockey Team won their gold. Went to college in Canada for four years, so I had to hear those stinking Canadians talk about hockey forever. [00:23:28] (36 seconds)  #FaithMeetsOlympics

And the person who has the most Olympic medals in the history, anybody can guess, shout it out, Michael Phelps, had 23 gold medals, which when you really think about that, that's unbelievable to have that many gold medals. I wonder if it, like, does it wear off? Do you get not excited for winning a gold when you have 23? I mean, that's pretty amazing. Another interesting fact for you about the Olympics. The Olympics were banned for fifteen hundred years. You know who banned them? Christians banned them, [00:25:15] (38 seconds)  #OlympicHistoryFacts

So here's the first thing. I think we are supposed to live life with an eternal prize in mind. Live life with an eternal prize in mind. And what's interesting here, the actual context of what Paul is talking about here in first Corinthians, he's talking about our mission statement here at Compass City. Our mission statement, if you haven't heard it yet, is that we exist to help everyone find their way back to Jesus Christ. And literally, the context of this scripture that he's talking about is he's saying, my whole life is devoted to sharing the gospel. [00:30:40] (36 seconds)  #EternalMission

My eternal prize that I'm not focused and fixed on my job today, my family today. He said my full whole focus is on eternity and everybody around me. And as he's writing this, right, he's talking about running a race, what most scholars were thinking is he was in Corinth at the time. And the city of Corinth, there was this very famous, almost like Olympic games. They were called the Isthmian games. And these Isthmian games were specifically focused toward celebrating the Greek god Poseidon. [00:31:16] (36 seconds)  #FocusOnEternity

And they happened every two years in Corinth. And so what they think is as as Paul's writing this, he's watching these athletes coming to Corinth. They're a part of these Isthmian games. They're running. They're doing equestrian. They're wrestling. They're doing arts. And he's talking about, oh, man. These people are so focused on one thing, but they're missing the big thing. And what happened is the Isthmian games I had to I had to look it up. What happened to the Isthmian games? Well, the Isthmian games got completely deleted and canceled. [00:32:04] (30 seconds)  #IsthmianGamesStory

And the reason why it happened was this guy named Constantine. If you don't know, Constantine was the very first Roman emperor in Rome who was converted to Christianity. Before March, Christianity was not only banned, but it was persecuted. So if you were a Christian before the year March, you were captured. Very typically, you would be captured. You would be hung on a cross to die, and they'd light your body on fire to light up the courtyards of these areas that the emperor was in in Rome. I mean, you were highly persecuted to be a Christian. [00:32:38] (42 seconds)  #ConstantineAndChristianity

If you ever memorized that or remember that for me, when I got saved, I'm like, I gotta get rid of all my rap CDs. I gotta I'm only watching Christian TV shows. Right? I go in this highly Christian bubble, which is normal when you become a Christian. Was like, I gotta get rid of all this stuff. And here's what happened with the Isthmian games. I think rightfully so, they deleted the games because it was dedicated to Poseidon. But the Olympics were also cut out for fifteen hundred years because of this thought that the Olympics were focused on worshiping this other god. Here's the problem. Here's where I'm going with this. [00:34:01] (37 seconds)  #ConversionAndCulture

If you're a follower of Jesus here this morning, we have this propensity and we have this balance where God calls a follower of Jesus to be holy but not be a Christian hermit. So what happens so much is we get caught up and we throw the baby out with the bathwater. Right? And it's because God calls us to be holy. I'm supposed to pursue Jesus in my life. I'm supposed to do the right thing. But then what happens so much is we're like, I now have to be a Christian hermit. I'm cutting myself out. I can't be a part. And there's moments I still feel like that too. [00:34:38] (38 seconds)  #HolyNotHermit

idea, the money that I have, the time that I have. I do it for the mission of God. And Paul is very clear here. It is eternal. There's a deeper prize at stake of why you're at your job this morning. There's a deeper prize at stake than how you're hanging out with those friends on the sideline of the sporting event fields. So then first Corinthians goes on. He continues this concept. He says, so I run with purpose in every step. I'm not just shadow boxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others, I myself might be disqualified. So we also have to take advantage of discipline. [00:36:44] (48 seconds)  #RunWithPurpose

And sometimes when we hear the word discipline, stick our fingers in our ears, we're like, nope. Nope. Too much other stuff going on. I can't be disciplined. But life is about discipline. Paul is saying, even as a follower of Jesus, you have to be disciplined. And what they were saying with these Isthmian games, they happened every two years in Corinth. And they said that when an athlete would enroll to participate in the Isthmian games, on average, it would take them ten months to be prepared. So they would go on this ten month journey of essentially, abstaining from anything [00:37:32] (36 seconds)  #SpiritualTraining

that would distract them from the victory that they wanted. So food, drink, relationships, they would cut it all out for ten months for their prize of trying to win these Isthmian games. And I think about that, oh my gosh. That happens so much for us. When you have to prepare for the big show, right? You if you go on vacation, you're, like, trying to lose a little weight or you're doing this. You're you're preparing. On the same way, what Paul is saying here is that Christians ought to prepare and discipline themselves for the main goal. And what's the big show? The big show what Paul's talking about is to share your faith. [00:38:09] (40 seconds)  #TrainToShareFaith

And not just share your faith, but live your faith. I think sometimes we get nervous of like, oh, man. I can't I can't talk about my faith. I I don't have the right words. I don't know how to communicate or articulate it. One of the greatest ways to share your faith is living the gospel. It's living it, and that that's where the discipline comes in. I think what spiritual discipline looks like, it's knowing God's word. It's like if I'm gonna be a follower of Jesus, man, I sure better begin to get into the Bible that talks all about him. Or it's beginning to tell others at the right time what he's done for you. [00:38:50] (45 seconds)  #LiveYourFaithDaily

Right? When somebody asks you at work, hey, what'd you do this weekend? Sometimes it's really easy. Oh, like, we did this on Saturday and Sunday. We'll skip over the fact that you're at church on Sunday or you watch church online on Sunday. One of the easiest ways to share a faith is when somebody asks you, how's your weekend? I'll be like, man, was great. I went to church. I talked about the Olympics. And it becomes this easy door to articulate your faith. You get to live as an example. And part of being disciplined is making sure your life is congruent with what you believe. [00:39:35] (32 seconds)  #FaithInEverydayMoments

Right? See, there's this congruency that happens when you do that. In the same way, I fully recognize as a pastor, let alone let me take my title as a pastor off. As a follower of Jesus, a man of God, a Christian, if I'm telling you guys about this but not living this, that's a problem. Right? You're not gonna believe what I say. And so there's this idea that Paul talks about discipline that my life ought to be congruent with what I believe. [00:41:16] (33 seconds)  #AuthenticChristianity

What can happen is that there can be this guilt. There can be this guilt and this idea that my life is not congruent. But I also think it's important for us as we walk this life, perfection is not the goal. Direction is. If you try and be a perfect Christian or if you try and get your life together before you come to church, you will always feel bad about yourself. But if you choose the direction you're gonna go every morning, hey, this morning, I feel like I didn't do it great yesterday, but I'm gonna choose Jesus. This is my direction today. I'm gonna try and put him first every day. I'm gonna try my best to put him in my in my decision making. That is godliness. [00:42:10] (47 seconds)  #ProgressNotPerfection

Think about you come to the Olympics, and you get wholly distracted on the wrong thing. This is what Paul is saying for us as a follower of Jesus. He said, don't get distracted by the wrong things. Here's what scholars are saying that Paul is saying to Christians. Here's what distracts Christians. Greed, pride, lust, arrogance, gossip, dishonesty, stealing. You see, there's all these things. It's not just the big sins, the things that are public of somebody confessing an affair. No. What Paul's saying is all this stuff can entangle your walk with God. And so here's how to get out of that. You have to own it, [00:46:07] (54 seconds)  #AvoidSpiritualDistractions

confess it to God. First John chapter one verse nine says that if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just, and he'll purify us from all unrighteousness. So we own it, confess it, and then walk with other people. That's why community is so important. A lot of people use programs to overcome things. But that is so important. Don't be weighed down by all the stuff that the world tries to entangle you with. [00:47:01] (26 seconds)  #ConfessAndCommunity

So for us, as a as a follower of Jesus, you fix your eyes on the finish line. You know, when a runner, they talk about how important visualization is. Athletes, that you visualize your win. You visualize your goal. You visualize the finish line. And I gotta remind anybody here, I say this all the time, you're as much spiritual today as you are physical. So as much physical things that you deal with on a regular basis, eating and drinking and sweating and sleeping and energy and exhaustion, As much as all of that's a part of your body, there's equally spiritual things going on for you as well. And what Paul is saying is keep your eyes focused on the right thing, [00:47:52] (43 seconds)  #FixYourEyesOnTheFinish

on higher things. Don't be distracted. Don't get entangled by the world. The world will always offer you a quick off ramp. But it is a marathon, this journey of walking and following Jesus. It's committing for the long term that you're fixing your eyes on the right thing and then being able to finish with the right prize. [00:48:35] (26 seconds)  #FaithMarathon

And here's the beautiful part. We are on the winning team. We're on the winning team. Jesus has won, and winning feels good. When I heard the the men won today for the hockey team, I was so pumped. We're a bunch of winners, and it feels good. Everybody wants to be a winner. Nobody comes out and says that I wanna lose today. Well, you guys need to know, we win. Jesus won on the cross. His victory is real. His death and resurrection on the cross gives us real freedom and victory today. His mission is now our mission. We do all this every day by keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus. [00:49:01] (48 seconds)  #VictoryInJesus