I Corinthians 9:24-27 (NRSV)
24 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. 25 Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. 26 So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; 27 but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.
The theme of I Corinthians 9:24-27 is the need for self-control in pursuing Christian freedom, patterned after athletes preparing for competition.
Any of us who work at physical fitness are aware that there is no shortcut to fitness. If you have trained for a marathon or gone on long bike rides, you know the work required to become ready. Is that not true of everything? To graduate with honors, you must study late at night. To play good golf, you must spend hours on the driving range and the putting green. Whatever it is you wish to excel in doing, you must work hard and faithfully. There are no shortcuts to a successful life.
The use of metaphor is an attempt to express some image of life that others will find inspiring and practical at the same time. When he was in Corinth, around 49-51 AD, the city hosted the Isthmian games. The city had many visitors. Athletes were everywhere. Paul uses sports metaphor to communicate some truths concerning the practice of the Christian living. He articulates the need to develop self-control, develop a goal orientation, have self-discipline, and to grasp the purpose. Clearly, underlying such practices must be a passion to pursue excellence. Paul encourages the people of the church to remain focused by pursuing the best in the Christian life.
The city hosted the Isthmian games every two years (akin to the Olympic Games in Athens). Although Hellenistic literature commonly employed athletic imagery, the running and boxing metaphors of Paul were especially poignant for his Corinthian audience. Since 582 B.C., Corinth had been the home of the Isthmian Games, one of four Panhellenic festivals. The Isthmian Games ranked below the Olympic Games in prestige, but above those of Delphi and Nemea. After the Romans sacked Corinth in 146 B.C., the neighboring town of Sicyon, situated about 10 km (6.2 miles) northwest of Corinth, hosted the games, but coin evidence reveals that Roman Corinth reclaimed the games by 40 B.C. Although it is not certain that Paul attended these contests, he and his audience would have been aware of them. The games took place in April/May A.D. 49 and 51 when he was visiting the city. During this festive time, the city teemed with visitors, and this influx forced many non-Corinthians to pitch tents along the roadways. Thus, the games made Corinth a popular spot to visit and to work, especially for tentmakers (see Acts 18:1-3).[1]
The popularity of sports today makes this imagery easily relatable. Such imagery continues the challenge Paul offers to exercise self-control by considering the needs of other brothers and sisters in Christ. One can appreciate these instructions better if one sees it as consistent with the argument in 8:7-13 not to cause another to stumble in the faith and in 9:19-23 to become all things to all people in order to share the gospel. In fact, these few verses occur in the context of the advice that Paul gives regarding eating meat sacrificed to idols in 8:1-11:1. Familiarity with the message of the section is important for an understanding of these few verses. In 9:19, he will say that while he is free with respect to such moral matters, he makes himself a slave to all to win more of them to the way of the gospel. Standing on any principle of rightful personal freedom is secondary to the priority of bolstering the community. The essential moral issue at stake, then, is not so much a question of whether to eat sacrificial food per se as it is pursuing Christian conduct in a manner that upholds members of the body of Christ. Such forbearance requires that the exercise of liberty have some discipline. The image is like that of Philippians 3:12-13, but here, the emphasis is on the effort and training demanded of those who win. The Christian situation is a provisional one, in which we can only run to the utmost of our resources.[2]
Thus, he begins by asking a question that reminds us that we engage in athletic competition to win. 24Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Paul advises his readers to run, carrying the connotation of hard-striving exertion, even to the point of exhaustion, in such a way that you may win it. Notice, however, that all run to obtain this one prize. The singularity of such a prize for multiple runners has arrested the attention of many commentators. Whereas in the Isthmian Games only one person may wear the victor’s crown, in Paul’s illustration the whole church body runs together and seeks the imperishable crown.
Paul then presses the example by pointing to the need for self-control. In the arena of discipleship, when we practice spiritual disciplines like prayer, reading Scripture, fasting, and daily acts of compassion toward others, we are orienting our lives full-time toward winning the prize. Paul is reminding us of the basic truth that one does not develop character in ease and quiet.[3] If we are to preserve the unity of the Body of Christ and reconcile its members to their differences, it will take discipline of what we want to gain the needed union. 25 Athletes exercise self-control in all things, signifying an all-encompassing commitment that requires focus; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. The fruits of this discipline may seem meager. Why should one exert all that effort for a wreath, even if it is an imperishable one? Remember that, like adhering to the Olympic ideal, the goal of the Isthmian athlete was not to receive the reward of monetary compensation, but to receive recognition for excellence in a worthy athletic endeavor. The victor's wreath was valued specifically because it signified that its recipients had conducted themselves very honorably. The contrast of the perishable with the imperishable crown would have conjured images of the wreath of celery bestowed upon victors at the Isthmian Games. The Isthmian victor’s crown had a reputation for withering in comparison to the Nemean crown composed of fresh celery. Nonetheless, athletes still subjected their bodies to intense training for the fleeting honor of wearing a crown that had already begun to die.
Paul then reminds us that we need a purpose in life. Today, it may well be that many people today suffer from a meaningless complex, often associated with feelings of emptiness.[4] 26 So I do not run aimlessly (with uncertainty), nor do I box as though beating the air; 27 but I punish (meaning “to give a black eye” and figuratively “to maltreat” or subject the body to concerted pummeling) my body (soma) and enslave it. Although Paul is experiencing suffering, he is not condoning asceticism. “Body” can have the meaning of more than just the physical body. It can entail the whole of bodily existence, one’s day-to-day life. Paul’s model of self-control and his willingness to subject his whole body to the demands of his calling serves as an example of how the Corinthians are to act.[5] He does all of this for a purpose: so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified. Thus, by living with this priority he will show himself not to be “disqualified.” For those who claim Christ, our most worthy endeavor is the cooperative effort of seeking to love God with all our being and our neighbors as ourselves. Unlike training for an athletic competition, the goal of the Christian discipline Paul expects is not to strive against others, but to strive for the sake of others - not to honor ourselves, but to conduct ourselves in ways that honor others. We receive enough honor by the saving love of Christ, which prepares us to share the honors with the world.
The failure of some in the church to consider the needs of others reveals a misunderstanding of the gospel itself. In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Paul employs action-packed metaphors to challenge the church not to compete selfishly for the honor of crowns that do not last, but selflessly for the sake of partaking in the gospel with the whole body of Christ. This is competition Paul-style. The apostle urges the runners to stop causing others to stumble along the way (8:9) and to start encouraging one another towards the goal. If athletes are willing to torment their bodies for wilted celery stalks, how much more should the saints be willing to put aside petty differences and to run together toward an imperishable crown?
It is much easier to make the right choices if you think like an athlete who wants to be the best at what he or she does, not through any form of cheating, but through discipline. We have much to learn from such persons.
Sport activities were always something I picked up along the way. I played on summer leagues baseball. I did play some college baseball, but only because I attended a college that had so few students. I started running when I was around 19 years old. About that time, I started playing tennis. I started lifting weights and now use the Total Gym. Even at my relatively low level of skill, involvement in sports makes be realize the value of regular discipline.
One famous pro golfer was driving balls on a range when a Sunday golfer watched for a bit, and then said, “I wish I could hit a ball like that.” “No, you don’t,” the pro replied. “But I do,” insisted the other man. “Then I’ll tell you what you do. You get out here at 6 am and hit balls for three hours. When your hands develop blisters and the blisters break, and your hands bleed, you go into the clubhouse. You put medicine on your hands, then bandages. Then you come back out in the afternoon and you hit balls for two more hours. You do this every day for a few years, and some day you will be able to hit drives like mine.”
I think of Vijay Singh, who played in tournaments for many years, normally without success. In 1998 PGA championships, his years of hard work paid off. He won. A couple weeks later, he won another tournament. He would follow a four hour round with fours of practice, often on the far end of the driving range so he would not be bothered. He would rearrange the furniture in his hotel room, clearing the way, just so he could practice even more.
The reality is, whatever it is one wishes to excel in doing, one must work hard and faithfully. There are no shortcuts to a successful life.
The Robert Frost poem “The Road Not Taken,” begins with the words, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.” It cautions us about the fateful choices we make in the dense woods of life, and how our choices matter — with one path leading to another. Frost concludes it by saying,
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Doing the things that make for a successful life is about taking the road less traveled. The effortless way is to cheat and skate through with as little effort as is possible. We know that way all too well. I want to talk with you today about the road less traveled.
Frost also said, “Poetry is about life and death and who you are as a person.” Poetry gives us images, figures of speech, similes and metaphors that help us make sense of life. The intent of poetry and novels is to gain an insight into life, an insight that may bring change to our lives, if we are open to it. Frost once said, “Unless you are educated in metaphor, you are not safe to be let loose in the world.”
[1] Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, St. Paul’s Corinth [3rd edition; Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 2002], 12-15
[2] Barth, Church Dogmatics IV.2 [64.4] 376.
[3] Helen Keller, quoted in The Week, May 10, 2002, 17.
[4] Karl Rahner and Karl-Heinz Weger, Our Christian Faith: Answers for the Future (New York: Crossroad, 1981), ix.
[5] Anthony Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians [The New International Greek Testament Commentary; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000], 716
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