The Christian life is like a race. We are all running the race for a prize. Great rewards await us, but we must be careful to not give up!
My chest burned. My legs screamed in pain. My face seemed to radiate heat, and I was convinced that I couldn’t keep going.
This was how I felt when I – as a teenager in the eighth grade – ran a 400 meter dash.
For 60 seconds, I was subject to a great deal of pain and suffering. I, and seven other teens around my age, pushed ourselves to the limits of our abilities.
It was tough, but worth it. I remember winning a prize for that race. It was a race well run.
Did you know that Scripture likens the Christian life to a race?
Each of us – if we are believers in Jesus Christ – is running in what amounts to the biggest race we’ll ever participate in. No matter how many 5k’s, half marathons, iron mans, or marathons you run, you’ll never run a race bigger or more consequential than the one you run for God.
Ever.
You’ll also never run a race with a greater prize than the race you run for God.
Think about this: Olympic athletes compete for the ultimate prize – a gold medal. If you win Olympic gold, your name will go down in the history books. You’ll be honored on television worldwide. Your newfound fame might even allow you to become rich.
These athletes spend their entire lives training.
Nobody just walks into the Olympics and wins gold. Nobody just walks into the Olympics period – everyone who competes in the Games is there because they spent a huge amount of time and effort to do so.
It is the same way with our Christian lives. Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I should be disqualified. [1 Corinthians 9:24-27, ESV]
In this section of 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul is likening the Christian life to a great race. His metaphor is far-reaching – we’ll unpack it below.
Running the Race
What does it mean to “run the Christian race?” Paul shows us through a combination of metaphor and strongly-worded writing.
Here are some examples of this “strong wording:”
Only one receives the prize
I discipline my body and keep it under control
Lest after preaching to others I should be disqualified
If you really stop to think about it, these are potent phrases. What does Paul mean when he writes, “Only one receives the prize?” If we take this outside of its proper context, we might be given to think that the Christian life is a competition – and only the best of the best get the rewards.
This is not what Paul has in mind.
Instead, when all of these things are considered, a picture starts to come together: the Christian life is TOUGH. Commit to it with ALL you have. Don’t tire out; keep going!
Run to Get the Prize
To start the passage, Paul asks us a question: ‘Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?’
He is awakening us to a truth: a race is difficult. Just think back to my story earlier on in this article. That 400 meter dash was tough. If you’ve ever run a race – especially a long-distance race – you’ll know the feeling. Your muscles burn, you huff and puff for air, and the sweat streams down your skin.
Running a race is no easy task. But winning the race?
That’s even tougher.
Running a race requires commitment. If you want to finish first, it requires all-out dedication. It requires strength. It requires you to press on, despite all the pain your body may feel.
I am convinced that the winner of a race isn’t always the most physically-fit or talented of the group. Rather, he or she is often the one who wants it the most.
Do you want to “win” this race, Believer? Do you want to cross over that threshold at the end of your life and hear the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant?”
Then you must run in such a way as to obtain the prize.
This does NOT mean that you’re competing against fellow Christians for who can be the holiest, the godliest, the most disciplined. Not at all. Notice that Paul says, “Run THAT you may obtain it.” Some other translations say, “Run in such a way as to receive the prize.”
You are not in a brutal battle for first place among your fellow Christians. Rather, you’re living the Christian life with the same spirit and the same vigor and commitment of the winner of a race.
In other words, you’re all in.
You’re like that person who wins the 5k or the marathon. You want to win. You’re willing to do anything it takes. This race is your life. You’ve devoted all you have to running it well.
That is what it means to, “Run that you may obtain the prize.”
How to Run the Race
Verse 24 showed us what it means to run the Christian race. But how do we go about doing this?
Verses 25, 26, and 27 show us the practical side to this lifelong commitment. Let’s re-read them:
Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control..." [1 Corinthians 9:25-27, ESV]
The truth of the matter is this: the Christian life requires work. It requires discipline. It requires endurance and perseverance. It’s an all-out commitment, and all-out commitments come with all-out obedience and devotion.
If you want something really badly, you’ll do whatever is necessary to obtain it.
Now, does this mean that we are working to earn our salvation?
Absolutely not. Our salvation was a gift granted to us by God the moment we believed on Jesus Christ.
This ‘Christian race’ is what follows. We’re not running this race because we are seeking salvation; we’re running it because we’re already saved. Your ticket to entering this race was your status as a born again child of God.
God saved you through His only Son Jesus Christ. Now that you’re saved, you’re in this race. And you should want to run it well, because you will be rewarded for doing so.
We run this race well by doing the following: being intentional and exercising discipline and self-control.
To be intentional, we must be actively and consciously setting our sights and efforts on the Lord. That’s why Paul says that he does not “run aimlessly” or “box as one beating the air.” These are things that will lead you nowhere. There is a certain degree of strategy and active living required both for athletics and for Christian living.
Intentionality might look like blocking out a time every morning (or evening) for Bible study or prayer. It might look like memorizing Scripture. It might look like regularly getting together with a group of other Believers to fellowship and grow in the Lord.
Intentionality is all about being active. It’s about choosing where to invest your time and resources. It is the opposite of passivity and inaction. There is a beneficial way to invest yourself, and there is a detrimental way to invest yourself.
Intentionality chooses the beneficial.
To be disciplined, we must pursue strength in the Lord. What is discipline? It is nothing less than controlled behavior.
Discipline is founded upon conviction. It is founded upon a bedrock desire to behave rightly and do the proper thing. Discipline is what keeps you from eating ice cream during a diet. It’s what keeps you from spending your hard-earned money on something you don’t need.
It also serves as the backbone of your running in the Christian race. Notice what Paul says: every athlete exercises self-control in all things.
In other words, discipline is the engine that powers your self-control. If you have discipline, you’ll have the ability to control yourself. This goes hand-in-hand with intentionality. Intentionality is about being proactive and choosing to do things that will benefit you.
This is undergirded by discipline, which ultimately reveals itself in the form of self-control.
Are there books that you know you should not be reading? Are there movies you watch and songs you listen to that will damage your faith or tempt you to behave in a way that’s not honoring to God?
If there are, having discipline and self control will allow you to cut them out of your life. This may sound legalistic, but it’s necessary.
Now, it is necessary to include a word of warning here: you MUST go into this process being submitted to the Lord, and you must go into it with a genuine desire to please Him. You cannot approach this from the angle of, “doing something for God so that you’ll get something out of it” or, “earning good graces with the Lord.”
That won’t work.
Your obedience, discipline, and self-control are not your attempts to get on God’s good side. Rather, they’re your services of worship to the Lord. They’re designed to allow you to experience closer and sweeter fellowship with Him. And they’re designed to strengthen your running in this great Christian race.
If you lack these qualities – if you lack discipline and self-control – then you know that you have someone you can go to: the Lord. Remember, you’re not saved by your obedience and rule-keeping. You’re saved because He provided the way to be saved, and you believed upon Him.
If God gave you His only Son, what makes you think that He won’t give you the discipline and self-control you need to run the race well?
Ask God for these things. Ask Him to increase your measure of these things. He will hear you!
It is God’s desire for you to be able to run the race well. Ask Him in faith for intentionality, for discipline, and for self-control. Work with Him. Strive to obey Him. Strive to please Him. Strive towards Him in love and desire for Him, and He will strengthen you.
The Cost of Quitting (or Being Disqualified)
The last words of our passage in Corinthians are rather dire ones.
“…Lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”
What does this mean? Can we be “disqualified” from the race?
The answer must be ‘yes,’ otherwise God would not have inspired Paul to write it. A couple important questions are therefore raised: What does it mean to be ‘disqualified?’ And how do we become disqualified?
Here is my interpretation: when Paul speaks of being ‘disqualified,’ he is not speaking of losing salvation or falling out of God’s favor. Rather, he is talking about losing the rewards that come from running the race.
What are the rewards?
It is impossible for us to truly know that answer. Scripture teaches us that ‘all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13).’ Therefore, we are not running to receive eternal life. That is granted to us the moment we cast ourselves fully upon the Lord for our salvation.
However, we do have other Bible passages that might allude to what Paul means here. One of the beautiful things about Scripture is that it serves as its own translator.
Let’s take a look at 1 Corinthians 3:10-15.
According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw - each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. [1 Corinthians 3:10-15, ESV]
Although the metaphors are different (in chapter 9, Paul speaks of a race; in chapter 3, a building), the principles are similar.
In this life, we are laboring for the Kingdom of Heaven. We’re serving God. When Paul likens our walks with the Lord as a race, he’s trying to impress upon us the seriousness and dedication with which we must approach the Christian life. When he likens it to a building, he’s impressing upon us the lasting consequences of our actions.
As we are laboring – that is, running, building, etc. – for God, we can do many different things. Every action has consequences.
Some of our actions are good ones that have eternal rewards. Discipling people, leading others to Christ, building one another up, and obeying God’s commands are works that are eternally good. They are the gold, silver, and precious stones that Paul speaks of in chapter 3.
Some of our actions don’t have eternal consequences, and some may even have negative consequences. Needlessly fighting over worship styles, seeking to increase church attendance for more prestige and money, and serving ourselves would fall into these categories. These are the wood, hay, and straw that are talked of.
When the Judgement Day comes – the day when all people will be judged and all actions will be brought to light – everything that has been done upon the foundation (that is, in the name of Jesus Christ) will be burned.
What survives? Only the gold, silver, and precious stones. Actions not truly done for God will be burned up and cease to exist.
For those who labor to please God, a great reward will be presented. Those who sow for His glory will receive much in the next life. But for those who labor to please themselves, their works will be burned up. They will still be saved, though Paul says that this salvation will be, ‘only as through fire.’
I believe the same principle applies in the metaphor of the Christian race. You cannot be disqualified from receiving eternal life, but you can be disqualified from receiving the “imperishable wreath” presented at the end of your life.
How do you become disqualified?
It’s simple: hypocrisy. If you’re a Christian, you must be careful to walk humbly. You must exercise self-control and discipline. You must handle issues within yourself before you try to handle the very same issues within others.
Now, does this mean you must be perfect? Absolutely not. But it does mean that you must have the humble mindset of submitting to the Lord. You must be fully committed to God, all-in on Him. If you preach Christ out of selfish ambition or for selfish gain, you cannot expect to receive the prize at the end of this life.
You’ll be saved, of course, but you will not obtain the reward you wished to obtain.
This is, for all intents and purposes, a warning against being hypocritical and superficial as a Christian. Such things do not honor God. They do not honor the Word. We must seek to be genuine, humble, and fully reliant upon the Lord.
If we do that, being sure to submit entirely to Him, we will experience an outpouring of reward in Heaven that is like nothing we can imagine.
Closing Thoughts
Believer, we are in a race. Paul shows us what it looks like to run this race. We must be all-in, fully dedicated, fully in love with the Lord. This life is hard work, and the Christian race is not easy.
But it is worth it.
Cast yourself fully upon God, seeking Him in all things. Seek to please Him in everything – not because we’re earning our salvation or earning His favor, but because He has already given these things to us freely.
At times, this race will feel difficult. It’s exhausting. As I’ve alluded to several times, running a race of any kind is not easy. Do you think that marathon runners feel fresh and fully energized when they cross that finish line after 26.2 miles of running?
Probably not.
There will be times when we’re tempted to just quit. There will be times when we’re tempted to give up and just turn in our resignation.
But press on. Don’t give up; keep running! When you’re tired, ask God to strengthen you. Keep coming back to Him. The more painful things get, the more you ought to press on into Him.
He is our source of strength. Implicit in Paul’s description of the Christian life is this: you cannot run this on your own strength. You’re not enough!
But God is enough. And God will see us through. Surrender to Him, seek Him in prayer, ask Him for the discipline, self-control, and intentionality that you lack.
He will be faithful to provide these things to you.
God bless!