Lessons from the Olympics

Singapore won an Olympic medal, FINALLY!

For those of you who are not from Singapore and don't understand why this is a really big deal, you need to know first and foremost is that Singapore is basically a social experiment on a national scale. Everything good that we have (business success, living environment and all that) was the result of careful planning, strategizing and government intervention (either direct or indirect).

(That's why, by the way, telling a Singaporean to let something just naturally happen is so difficult. It's directly opposite the inclination ingrained into our Singaporean DNA...)

And that is what happened in the Beijing Olympics. The Singapore Table Tennis Team was anchored by three athletes who were born in China, not Singapore. They were carefully wooed over to Singapore and offered Singaporean citizenship to compete for Singapore. And when our first Olympic medal in 48 years as the result of this deliberate effort, it vindicated the efforts (and money) spent on pursuing this policy.

But when it was announced that our table tennis team was in the finals (and thus assured of a medal) the nation pretty much forgot where these athletes were born. All we cared about was that we knew we were finally going to get a medal of some sort, and suddenly even those apathetic towards sports in general began following the Olympic Games to see how our team would do.

"And what does that have to do with us, JJ?"

Did you know that we, as believers, also have people following us in our lives and cheering us on to win glory for God?

"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." (Hebrews 12:1, NIV)

Think about it. In Church history, we have heroes who have accomplished great things for God. We have the early believers who withstood the persecution of insane Roman emperors, reformers who struggled to bring the truths of God's word back to the people of God, to missionaries who gave up their creature comforts, families and their own lives to further the spread of the Gospel of Christ.

And they have passed the baton to us, for us to continue the race marked out for us. It is now time for US to run the race, to perform the best we can with our earthly lives, and, if Christ should tarry, pass the baton to the next generation. And cheer them on, just as the believers who have gone before us are cheering us on right now.

What the Singapore government did for the China-born athletes, wooing them over from a different country to win sporting glory for our own, is what God has done for us in Christ.

"All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath." (Ephesians 2:3, NIV)

We were by nature no different from the sinners of this world, the unsaved. And yet God chose to seek us out, to woo us over to another kingdom, the kingdom of heaven. Then he sent us forth with the charge to win glory for the name of Jesus.

One interesting thing I learned from the table tennis saga is how much winning a medal can cause people to overlook mistakes and bloopers. One of the athletes from the men's team played without a coach by his side and performed dismally. The head of the Singapore Table Tennis Association announced that serious action would be taken against those responsible. Rumors that the head coach and the team manager would be fired ran rife.

And the nation went into an uproar. No one condoned leaving an athlete coach-less during the Olympics, but the head coach and team manager also shared in the credit for our medal. And so the furor grew against the supposed unfair and harsh treatment awaiting the coach and team manager when they returned to Singapore. The women's table tennis team, instead of coming back like victors, returned to Singapore with their heads bowed low because of the uncertainty over what would happen to their coach and manager.

And I believe the heavenly witnesses are feeling the same about us when we slip up. They don't like us sinning, causing shame to the name of Christ. But they stand on our side, urging us on and defending us against those who seek to discredit us and our contributions to the body of Christ. And that is how we believers here on earth ought to look at our fellow team-mates who stumble in their race for Christ.

But what if we have not been living our lives to win glory for the name of Christ in this race of life?

"... One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14, NIV)

Really, there is no better time to start than now. If you are struggling with some sin or hindrance in your Christian walk, get help from a pastor whom you trust. If you know what you are supposed to do and have been neglecting it (happens to me too, trust me) get up, dust yourself off and get on with it. The heroes of our faith are watching you now in heaven and they are cheering you on!

May we be able to say one day, together with the Apostle Paul,

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." (2 Timothy 4:7-8, NIV)