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In my nine years as a triathlete I have come to realize that there is one truth about racing: the harder and smarter you train, the better you become. I believe the same can be said for our lives in Christ.
Recently, while preparing a talk about my life, I was amazed at how closely related are my experiences of faith and my experiences of racing. I first got interested in triathlons by watching the Ironman on TV as a youngster. I was enthralled with the ability of those men and women to push their bodies to the limit and yet still be enjoying themselves. How can it be possible to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles with a smile on your face? I witnessed that same kind of inconceivable joy in the family of my ex-girl friend. Their response to hardship helped bring me to my faith in Christ. The same thing which captured my heart for triathlons is what captured my heart for Christ.
When I started to train for my first triathlon I had no clue what I was doing! I gleaned knowledge from some triathlete magazines and the few books that were out there on the subject. I was training on little knowledge and much feeling. If I felt good, I would run faster or if I felt bad, I would bike easier. The first months of my new life in Christ were the same. I gained much of my knowledge through my limited Bible reading and from the Christians around me. If it sounded good, I would accept it as truth, but if it sounded weird, I would dismiss it. Through this time I was blessed by the grace of the Lord which covered me in my limited knowledge of the Truth.
As I began to progress in my race training I soon realized that I needed more knowledge to be successful. I began to read everything I could on training and racing. I became a human triathlete sponge! My walk as a Christian took on a similar dimension. I wanted to know God more deeply so I set out to read and talk to anyone I could about God. There was, however, a danger lurking: bad advice and bad doctrine.
One problem triathletes have is that we are always looking for ways to go faster when training, and we will try anything that sounds like it will make us faster, at least once. Therefore, we are susceptible to some wacky training methods and bizarre diet routines. More often than not, these measures set back our training. As a Christian, I wanted to be more spiritual and closer to God so I began to seek out those experiences that would give me such feelings. I soon realized that such experiences are not always grounded in the Truth of God’s word. In many cases, these experiences are rooted in man’s desire for a god that is like man himself. As a result, I was left stranded with no direction in my walk.
Fortunately, both as a triathlete and as a Christian, I came back to what got me to the level where I was at before. With my racing, I was able to go back through my old training diaries to see what made me successful in the past. Now when a new training method comes out I do not try it without first thinking about it and comparing it to the past experiences of myself and others. As a Christian, I turned back to focusing on the Lord through prayer and His Holy Word. I also began to test those Christian experiences I thought questionable against the Word of God and against the lives of those who have come before me. It may surprise many, but the problems of our age are not new, and they have been dealt with by those who have come centuries before.
In closing, we live in an age where all authority is questioned, a time where the lines between right and wrong have been corrupted. It is up to those of us who believe in the eternal everlasting Truth of the Lord Jesus Christ to train harder and smarter in order that we may always be ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you....
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