GO FOR THE GOLD

1 Corinthians 3: 1-9

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

For each Olympic event, there are only three medals awarded, and still thousands of Olympian athletes train for years and years, making personal sacrifices just to compete in the games.  Along the way, anything could happen.  Illness or injury could end their career or despite everything they put into it, there still could be someone a few seconds faster, a bit stronger or more talented that robs them of a win.  Yet, they all work hard because they are going for the gold.  They train to win.

Paul knew that the Christians in the Corinth church weren’t mature Christians.  There was plenty of evidence to support his claim: infighting, jealousy among them, and many continued to live according to the standards of their culture.

Maybe their lack of spiritual growth was because they weren’t ready to let go of their dependence on what they knew.  They knew how to make sense of the world and how to live their lives using human reasoning and logic.

Or maybe they were looking for a crutch.  They didn’t have work so hard at growing into disciples of Christ if Paul and Apollo just spoon fed them everything they needed to know and told them what to do.  Who needs a relationship with God through Christ; who needs to listen for the counsel of the Holy Spirit if you have the right teacher?

They put their faith in their teachers as the sources for their salvation and sanctification rather than in Christ and the message of the cross.  They were doing had to do, and that just wasn’t working for them.

Don’t we sometimes do the same kind of thing?  Are we giving it everything we’ve got when it comes to our own faith development, or are we just getting by on spiritual baby food and Sunday feedings?  Have we become spiritual couch potatoes?

Further on in the letter, Paul gives his readers an analogy the Corinthians something they could relate to, living in a society dominated by games and sports.  Life as a Christian is like being an athlete.  Athletes discipline their bodies, pushing them to the limit and intentionally train to win the prize, a wreath of laurel leaves that will shrivel and die. 

Paul reminds us that we must be just as intentional and disciplined in our spiritual life, especially since the gold we’re going for is everlasting.  The prize that awaits us is abundant life in the here and now through Jesus Christ and the promise of eternal life. 

So here’s a spiritual training regimen that has been used by Methodists since our beginnings as small group meetings in 18^th century England.  John Wesley called them the General Rules.

1.       Attend the Ordinances of God.  We touched on that last week – staying plugged into the Source.  Bishop Reuben Job refers to thisin his book, Three Simple Rules, as "staying in love with God."  They include both individual and community spiritual practices.

     

    Individual practices are our personal times of prayer, fasting and Bible

    Study.  Community practices consist of attending worship,

    participating in the sacraments of Holy Communion and Baptism and in 

    small group prayer and Bible study, including Sunday School.

2.       Practice, practice, practice!  This is intentionally and consistently

    out the Gospel and our faith in every aspect and moment of our lives.

    First, do no harm by either our direct actions towards others or by

    what others see us do.  Secondly, do all the good we can whenever

    we can, wherever we can, and to whomever we can.

God’s loving intention for us is to grow, not to remain spiritual infants or stagnate. As people on a journey, spiritual fitness is a must.  God is our coach, our trainer, and God alone is the source of the grace that nourishes us and helps us to grow as disciples of Christ.  Through Christ, we are called to participate with that grace, living disciplined lives that free us to go for the gold.