By Jeff Walling
I have a confession: I don”t get the running thing at all. Sure, when I pass a tank-topped runner there is a moment of jealousy, I wish I was him. Or at least, I wish I looked like him. But when I see them puffing and wheezing after they”ve finally had enough, looking like they”ve been dragged through a field and dipped in a swamp, that feeling evaporates.
But the runners who really puzzle me are the marathoners. Who would run 26.2 miles of their own freewill? Who in their right mind would push their muscles until they scream for mercy? Who would train for months for a chance at agonizing pain, a pulled hamstring, or maybe even a heart attack to top it off?
My wife, that”s who.
Cathryn ran her first marathon three years ago and she loved it. She”d done some cross-country running in school but nothing like this. Now she”s training to run a qualifying time for the Boston Marathon. Last week, her twin brother did just that and now she”s all the more determined to accomplish that goal.
Needless to say, I decided it might be in my best interest to try to get into the marathon thing . . . at least a little. Now, I still haven”t become a committed runner. Somebody has to be there to hold out that cup of water and holler, “Keep going!” But I am reading some runners” magazines and learning more about it.
I discovered something surprising””running a marathon is less about your muscles than your motivation. You see, without an inner drive to finish the race, even the best-trained runner will “hit the wall.” At that point, if you don”t have that extra “something” going on inside your skull, your legs will just give out.
So what is the secret to going the distance””the key to finishing the race? That”s a question worth any Christian”s consideration. What will keep an exhausted Christian man from giving in to the temptation to quit his marriage or ministry? What will enable a Christian woman to keep going when so many around her have thrown in the towel of purity or patience? What is the power that can see a believer through to the finish line of the most important race of all?
You may be surprised at the answer and where it was found.
To begin, ask this question: what motivates you to do anything? I read an article in Omni magazine some years ago titled, “Why People Do What They Do.” The author suggested there are three basic motivators for all actions. The article listed them in order of their potency, but I think the list also reflects the order in which we experience them. Not surprisingly, the same truths were written in God”s Word long before that psychologist was a twinkle in his grandfather”s eye.
1. FEAR
From a child-rearing perspective, I get this. While being all cuddly and supportive is good for your toddler, if you really want to motivate him to obey, heed these words””fear works.
When I found my 4-year-old trying to pry the plastic safety plug out of an electric socket with a metal fork, I panicked. I had warned him a dozen times in as many hours not to do that, and yet here he was about get the shock of his life””literally.
So what did I do? Did I gently take his hand, give him a caring hug, and coo, “Oooh, little man shouldn”t touchy the sockety”? Nope. I smacked his hand good and hard and said, “NO! Dad said NO!” I saw fear in his eyes. And I was happy.
No license for child abuse given here. But I don”t think God would disagree with my approach. Consider the wise man”s words, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline” (Proverbs 1:7).
God uses fear to motivate us to good actions. After all, Hell-fire was his idea.
But fear as a primary motivation wears thin pretty quickly. From childhood, we need to learn more powerful motivators as we mature. Who wants to be threatening their 30-year-old son with a spanking? In fact, the next level of motivation is the one many parents turn to when Junior is too big to swat.
2. REWARD
This one will work for a long time. Long after the threats of restriction are a thing of the past, kids sit up and pay attention when the carrot is big enough.
“If you keep those grades up,” my father once said to me, “we”ll see about getting you a car.” That one sentence did more than a thousand spankings could have accomplished.
And reward still works today. Would you be heading to work tomorrow if your boss informed you they could no longer pay you? Didn”t think so.
God is not above using this motivator as well. Paul”s description of what motivated his ministry is pretty telling. “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).
Promises of the blessings that accompany obedience are scattered throughout the Old Testament. And who could think of a greater reward than eternity with God? As one author describes it, it”s “being where you want to be with the one you want to be with forever!”
But even rewards have their limits. A teenager”s birthday wish list soon grows more costly than the gross national product of some Third World countries. The candy bowl eventually is emptied. Even Heaven can feel so distant and vague that its power to drive obedience can wane.
So what could be a greater motivator than fear or reward? I”ll bet you know this one instinctively.
3. LOVE
When I visit my 90-year-old mother and she tells me to take out the trash, I do it. But not out of fear or hope of reward. I do it because of the greatest power of all””love. But, before you misread that, let me explain””it is not my love for her that motivates me. My love for others””even for my own mother””is inconsistent and undependable at best. One moment I love my kids with a heavenly love and the next moment I”m ready to send them there.
My love affair with God is just like that. Catch me at church camp or a revival and I”m ready to strangle Satan with my bare hands. But when I get stuck in traffic waiting for marathon runners to pass through an intersection . . . well, you get it.
That”s why Jesus” words at the last supper are so important to finding the power to go the distance. “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love” (John 15:9).
The power to see you through to the end of the race is not found in your love for Christ. It is found in his divine love for you. According to Jesus, it is a love that is as sweeping and unconditional as the love that God has for his only begotten Son. No greater force exists.
And when we realize how deep and strong love is . . . and when we determine to remain in it . . . when we refuse to let Satan drag us away from it with a whip of guilt or shame . . . when we bathe in the security and joy it brings instead of wallowing in prideful arrogance or spiritual self-righteousness, then we will go the distance, no matter how painful it may be.
I may never understand the marathoner”s mind, but I have hung my hopes on this truth: If I remember with every step that I am loved totally by a God who knows me and cares for me, I will not quit the race. Through the power of his divine love I will find the strength to put one foot in front of the other, until I am finally in his presence. And that”s a finish line worth crossing.
Jeff Walling is senior minister with Providence Road Church of Christ in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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