Saturday
Saturday
Running the Christian Race
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus.
Hebrews 12:1–2
Everybody in the ancient world knew about the Greek games. As Greek culture permeated the Roman Empire, the games accompanied it. Every city had its amphitheater, in which athletes displayed their prowess before huge and appreciative crowds—running, boxing, wrestling, spear throwing, and chariot racing. Several times in the New Testament the Christian life is likened to an athletic race, not because we are competing with one another, but because it demands great self-discipline. Our author’s concern is that we “run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (v. 1). He seems to lay down three requirements as means to endurance in the race.
Firstly, remember the spectators! “We are surrounded,” he writes, “by such a great cloud of witnesses” (v. 1). These certainly include the Old Testament heroes of faith portrayed in chapter 11, and probably their equivalents in New Testament days. But in what sense are they “witnesses”? It surely means that they once bore witness on earth. But could it also include the Christian dead who are watching now from heaven? Tentatively, I think it does, because we are said to be “surrounded” by them, which suggests that we should envisage tier upon tier of excited spectators in the local amphitheater. To remember the spectators is to be inspired to greater exertion.
Secondly, go into training! All serious athletes accept a strenuous régime of food, drink, exercise, and sleep. And for the race itself they lay aside both surplus body weight and inappropriate clothing. In Christian terms this means turning away from sin and laying aside “weights,” which may not be sinful in themselves but nevertheless hinder the race.
Thirdly, keep looking to the finish line! Christian athletes are to look away from all distractions and fix their eyes on Jesus, who seems to be standing at the finish line. “Consider him,” the author writes (v. 3), and especially his endurance of the cross and of hostility against himself. Thus, surrounded by witnesses, profiting from strenuous training, and fixing our eyes on Jesus, we will run our race with perseverance; the very possibility of dropping out is unthinkable.
For further reading: Hebrews 12:1–3