Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
1 Corinthians
9:24-27
Paul likens
his commitment to Jesus Christ and his desire for a reward to an athlete
training to compete for a prize.
Consider the
athletes who competed in the Olympics and Paralympics in London last year. Did
they have the right to enjoy nights out with their friends and their favourite fast food? Yes! But it would have
compromised and undermined their ability to compete and win. They therefore
chose to waive their right for the sake of their chosen sport.
Paul waived
his rights as an apostle and a Christian minister for the sake of the gospel,
the good news about Jesus Christ. By this, he encourages his readers to do the
same.
Do we have the
right to work at any lawful job in order to earn good money? Do we have the
right to spend what we earn on the things we enjoy? An expensive home and cars?
Good holidays? Fashionable clothes? Trips to the theatre or cinema and meals
out?
Often when I
teach personal finance, questions seem to flicker across people’s
faces. What’s wrong with any of those
things? They aren’t forbidden? I can afford them, so why not enjoy
them? What’s the harm? But they are all irrelevant! St Paul would ask a
very different set of questions.
- How will it be perceived by others? Would it undermine their faith? Would it hinder them seeing that Jesus is Lord and committing to living as his disciples? Would it put at risk my own reward in heaven?
One thing that I try to be very clear about at the start of my personal finance seminars is that I am not trying to make people feel guilty about the ways they get and use money. Whether driving a particular car, wearing certain clothes or enjoying restaurant meals is right or wrong for any given Christian is, except in extreme cases of vanity or greed, a matter they must decide for themselves. Also, I hope that I do not give cause for Christians to sit in judgment on each other. But I do encourage us all to think deeply about our own values and choices.
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Scripture
quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright
© 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by
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Handling
money and dealing with debt can be complicated and neither the author nor
anyone else involved in the production of these Reflections is responsible for
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