Ever thought Nike could teach you a solid Christian lesson? Trust me, it teaches a good one.
Nike's catchphrase is "Just Do It" in case you've been living under a rock. For God's kingdom, it's more intimate, more dramatic than that.
"...Let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, so that you won’t grow weary and lose heart" (Hebrews 12:1-3).
For God's kingdom Just Jesus is the catchphrase.
See, Jesus didn't read His own Word for an hour a day. He constantly meditated and consumed it. He declared to Satan while in the wilderness that man doesn't live on bread alone, but by every word of God (Luke 4:4 KJV).
See, Jesus didn't preach all those parables to the crowds and then go home, forgetting everything about them. He took breaks, of course, but as He made His gospel known He continued to serve someone unworthy with every turn He made. He kept on running to His earthly finish line, the cross, remaining faithful to His mission to death and then to the resurrection all because He adored the Father and us. Now with the "Promised One" prophecies fulfilled and the last sacrifice paid, He sits at the right hand of the Father. It's crucial to know that in the Old Testament, priests never sat because they always had a sacrifice to perform or a chore to run. A pastor I admire once stated that the inner chambers of the temple didn't even have chairs for the high priests! Now we know Jesus was the High Priest over all the high priests. So when He said "It is finished!" He literally finished, in fact with such flying colors that He sits on the heavenly throne.
Jesus got to claim that His Redeemer mission was finished because He pressed on despite all the curveballs thrown at Him.
In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Paul writes: "Don’t you know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way to win the prize. Now everyone who competes exercises self-control in everything. However, they do it to receive a crown that will fade away,but we a crown that will never fade away. Therefore I do not run like one who runs aimlessly or box like one beating the air. Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified."
For one thing, the Greeks Paul wrote to were obsessed with the Olympics. Through using sports he made what the Greeks, and still some of us today, who couldn't understand what walking as a Christian meant known.
- Olympians are utterly intentional when it comes to training their bodies so they may win a prize, so how much more intentional should a Christian striving after Jesus and the gift of Heaven be!
- Olympians strive and strain themselves so much as to win a "crown that fades," so how much more should a Christian fight, for example, culture norms and tolerance ideas of sin to follow Jesus;
- Whereas Olympians go through intense training and push away cravings so they may win a crown and popularity for the moment, Christians must fight every act, thought, or word, seen, said, or done that is against God and the standard He created (aka that word people hate so much - sin) so they may know God more than the day before.
Solomon cleared the dust when he said Ecclesiastes 1:11: "There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come by those who will come after." We're back to Just Jesus. For one, as already established earlier, He's the ultimate example, divine and human we HAVE TO follow for a fulfilled life here and in the next one. But here we see history is rewritten through Him. If you are redeemed by Him you've found the source of life. To be without Him - and that means being a lukewarm Christian that just goes through the motions too - is to be forgotten.
Celebrities rise and fade out of the lime lights as another generation replaces them. Bands fall in and out of popularity. All these political issues and wars happening around the nations prove each loses their respect and power over time, which is why they fight each other for the power back. But Jesus remains after all as the steadfast Cornerstone.
Would you like me to explicitly state what Nike taught me? It taught me, with a fresh twist to it, that following Jesus isn't easy. When I think about the athletes who chug the Gatorade, rocking their Nike shoes on ads, now I'll remember to Just Jesus - just follow His examples. Don't conform to society's "prosperity-gospel-or-no-gospel" attitude. Don't slug in your Christian sprint, because Jesus is the prize and I definitely don't want to miss Him.
What has Nike taught you?
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NOTE: Props to Zach for giving me this brilliant topic to write about! *claps*
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