IF A MAN ALSO STRIVE FOR MASTERIES

Our reading continues the theme we started yesterday but with a change in the metaphor, for now the servant of the Lord is viewed as an athlete, not a soldier. No longer are we on the battlefield fighting, but on the sports field competing. As a sol­dier, the emphasis is on the servant’s loyalty. As an athlete, the focus is on the servant’s conformity. If the athlete wants to win the prize he has to conform to the regulations of the games.

As a backdrop to this verse, Paul has in mind the stringent rules that governed the Greek games. The winner of an Olympic event was awarded an olive branch and was received with much honour in his home town. However, to achieve this distinction the athlete not only had to prepare and participate but had to perform according to the rules. How disappointing it would have been for someone to finish the race in first place but be disqualified because of failing to adhere to the standards.

The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews has something similar in mind when he states, ‘Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us’, Heb. 12. 1. One signifi­cant difference between that verse and today’s reading is that in Hebrews the emphasis is on the athlete at the start of the race whereas here it is on the athlete reaching the finishing line. What a waste of time and effort, and how pointless it would have been, to win the event but not receive the reward because of disobedience.

Although he uses another metaphor (that of a builder), surely there is a parallel here to what Paul wrote to the church at Corinth. The apostle writes, ‘Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it … If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss’, 1 Cor. 3. 13-15

One day, each of us will complete our race and appear before the Judgement Seat of Christ, Rom. 14. 10. Will it be that we have strived but not been crowned or shall we hear those words of commendation, ‘Well done’, Matt. 25. 21?