Run! …Don’t drift!

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… Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.

1 Corinthians 9:24-26; Hebrews 12:1, NRSV

Last week we defined “drifting” as the motion of women and men who have lost touch with their God, their relationships, their vision, their convictions, and their priorities. The good news is that drifting does not possess terminal velocity! It can be overcome— but to do so, a “drifter” must become a “runner.” In the New Testament, Paul uses the word, “run” (Gk. trecho) to describe how the Christian life is directed towards a goal which mandates that a runner apply all one’s strength. Runners must keep pace and fix their eyes on the finish line because the race, Paul describes, will last a lifetime.

Here is a sobering discovery I have learned about myself: if I stop running, I will start drifting. Therefore I must cultivate a life which can maintain the pace for faith’s marathon.

Here are seven critical needs I have discovered that are essential to my long run…

1. Runners need vision and understanding of the course set before them. Vision comes through prayer and bible study. This is fundamental and there are no substitutes. Scripture and prayer define my course, my pacing, and the standards of victory. Their absence is the first sign that I am at risk.

2. Runners need strength. How can I possibly expect to run a race like this without fatigue? Its duration is a sure sign that the demands are inhuman. I need the empowering of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes He comes like a mighty torrent and at other times as indiscernible as the oxygen I breathe. But at all times His presence in and through me will be tangibly evident by visible signs of His activity in me (i.e. assurance of my salvation, my adoption in Jesus as my Father’s son, the deluge of grace, a Spirit-release language of prayer — just to name a few).

3. Runners need heroes. I learn from those who have won and/or are further along than I am. The problem is that most women and men lack heroes who are Christian. Relationships with older Christians has had a profound impact on my life. Now I am discovering as an older man that my heroes can be much younger and still further along than me. All of this might simply mean that I am a painfully slow learner that is easily lapped by any age group!

Also devotional reading is strategic— get your hands on a copy of My Utmost For His Highest (Oswald Chambers), Morning and Evening (C. H. Spurgeon), anything by Tozer.

4. Runners need camaraderie. Show me anyone without good friends and I will show you a person who is most likely drifting. I have found that nights out (movies, sports, etc..) as well as honest and sharing relationships are critical to my race. It is easy to have many acquaintances, but few friends. The race is not intended to be lonely.

5. Runners need healthy diversions, learning opportunities, and creative outlets. For me this includes playing sports, working out, photography, night walks with the dog, a good film, trip to the museum, reading, and music. Leisure and creativity steadies my pace, increases focus, and mitigates burn out.

6. Runners need rest. Sleep, rest, quiet … without these I will suffer fatigue and I will drift. I cannot run this race without sabbath.

7. Married runners need emotionally fulfilling marriages whose covenant fidelity prohibits misplacing our desire in diversions, distractions, and/or detours that will certainly induce drift. Misplaced desires will set us adrift as we are blown about from one diversion to another.

As I age, I have become painfully self-aware that “It only takes two!” If any two from the above list are missing on a consistent basis, I am perilously close to drifting— make it three and the drifting will have already commenced.

Years ago a close friend and mentor challenged me to take the steps I needed to run a good race. To highlight the challenge before me he said, “Mark, everyone wants you to enjoy a long life and to be fruitful. You will need to be more disciplined than you are. Take exercise for example. Carol wants you to be in shape but she will not want you to take the time away from her. Your children will want you to live a long time and remain fit— but not on the family’s time. Your congregation will not want an out-of-shape pastor, nor will they want you to take the time. And I know you… In your desire to honor God, Carol, your children, and the congregation you won’t give yourself permission to exercise. What are you going to do?!” This question remains before me as I seek to run the race…

Fellow saint, if this note finds you drifting, please don’t let condemnation, regret, or fatigue persuade you that you are disqualified.

Fellow saints!

You were reborn to run…

Why do you say, “My way is hidden from the LORD…” Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:27-31, NRSV).

I hope this has been helpful…