Compete
Do you play to win?
Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified. - 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Today's reading from Paul is an interesting one. He addresses the faithful as if we are all athletes, running a race or competing in an arena. We should play to win, he says.
I like winning. I think everyone does. But can we all be winners?
It is clear to Paul that it is important we play as though there can be only one winner, whether we believe through our faith that all will reach the goal line or not.
Paul was a marketer. He knew how to get people fired up about the Gospel, kind of like a modern day evangelist.
He tells us that he catered the message to the crowd, presenting himself in a way that each group could relate to. We would find that suspect, the work of a con artist, but Paul declares it honestly, without shame.
Today he would be ridiculed and heckled. Hey, that's not what you said to the other group. You're a hypocrite and a con.
Luckily he didn't have social media to contend with. He was able to speak the language of the small group and still reach the masses, because he was committed to the message.
Shouldn't we approach our faith with the same zeal?
Maybe that's what we need to do in order to live in a time when so many stand at the ready to knock down what we stand for.
If we could only learn to shape our messages so they can be understood by those who think differently, we might find common ground, and in the process, help each other to live a life more fully engaged, more fully spiritual.
Radical, I know. But what's the alternative? Do we need to do battle with everyone?
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