This morning, we continued our series ‘Running The Race’ (Heb 12:1-3) by thinking about the relay race in the Olympic Games. Here, we see 4 individual runners competing as a team, running individually and yet needing each other to complete the race. This is a parable for us, for the Christian life is personal, but is not meant to be lived in isolation. God made man and said it was not good for him to be alone (Gen 2:18); the family is the cornerstone of society, because this was God’s plan! Similarly, as important as the family is, the church is also compared to a family (1 Pet 2:17), demonstrating that we are not meant to live life on our own. We are called to share our faith, to pass on the baton of faith to our children and to future generations, in the same way that passing on the baton is an essential component of a relay race. Ps 78:4-7 reminds us that it is our responsibility to teach the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His power, and the wonders He has done to future generations.
Sadly, our society has become more individualistic and selfish, not valuing the family or the role of the village in raising a child. We need to understand that God’s plan for the world starts with sharing our faith with our family members, intentionally teaching them God’s word and how to pray in the same way that we consider it important to teach our children to feed and clothe themselves. We cannot abdicate this responsibility to the state but must understand that faith matters must be taught and that we live out our faith in a world which needs to see God’s love through our everyday actions and through the community known as the church.
The church is described as a family, though the Bible understands all about jealousy, quarrelling and rivalry in families! Nonetheless, it praises unity and reminds us that we share a common bond with other believers through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Paul urges us to ‘bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.’ (Col 3:13-14)
The church is also described as a body, made up of different parts, all of which are important for our general health (see 1 Cor 12:12-19). In the same way, we all have different functions in the life of the church, but we are all chosen by God, valued and valuable, and all are needed. The gregarious extrovert has a role to play, as does the contemplative introvert. We need the person who relishes administration and the one who loves to be messily spontaneous. We need people who are practical and good with their hands and those who can reason and debate logically. We need everyone. The church is the one organisation that can never say, “Go away, we don’t need you.” Just as relay runners have different strengths, so too we work together in different ways to become stronger than the sum of our parts!
Team sports are important in the Olympic Games; life is rather like a team sport too. We need each other, and as we work together, we can pass on the baton of faith and show the world what a life of faith looks like.
