“One Life. What's it all about?”
That's the strap line on the posters for the Christianity Explored
course, which we'll be running again starting on Monday 5th
September. And it's a very important question - because how we
answer that question has a huge bearing on how we live our lives.
I'm writing this at the middle of the Olympic Games and in interview
after interview the medal winners talked about how their preparations
for the last four years had been focussed on competing in these
Games. Their whole lives; their daily routines, their food and
drink, their social activities, their family lives had been dictated
by the aim of doing the best that they could in their event. They
had to ignore or avoid anything that would distract them from their
goal and certainly not do anything that would make them unable to
achieve their potential. And standing on the podium with an Olympic
medal around their neck made all of those sacrifices worth it.
Olympic athletes are perhaps an extreme example but many people are
similarly driven to achieve goals in their personal lives or careers
and make similar sacrifices. On the other hand many people don't
really have a clue where they're going or what they want to achieve
and their lives are subsequently purposeless. So we need to ask
ourselves the question of what our goals are and more importantly
whether those goals are good ones.
Jesus said he came to bring us life in all its fullness, so when
we're reassessing our own life goals one of the important factors to
think about is if and where Jesus features in our lives. The
Christianity Explored course gives the opportunity to discover who
Jesus is, what he did and what that means for us by reading through
and discussing Mark's gospel.
St
Paul often uses the analogy of sport to describe what it's like to
follow Jesus. He wrote “Do you not know that in a
race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a
way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into
strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we
do it to get a crown that will last for ever. Therefore I do not run
like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating
the air.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-26). Paul contrasts the fleeting and
ephemeral nature of sporting prizes such as laurel leaves, titles,
records etc. with the permanent prize of everlasting life promised to
all who believe in Jesus and who live with him at the centre of their
lives. And unlike Olympic gold, this everlasting prize is for all
believers who run and complete the race, not just for those who come
first.
