The unimaginable joy of being fearfully and wonderfully made

Sunday’s London Marathon resulted in a barrier-breaking accomplishment that, until recent years, would have been considered unthinkable. Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe ran the first sub-two-hour marathon, finishing in 1:59.30.

Sawe’s time is over an hour faster than the legendary three-hour run of Pheidippides, the Greek soldier who ran from Marathon to Athens with the proclamation of military victory over the invading Persians (490 BCE). Though likely a mythical account, his achievement is considered the inspiration for the sport of marathon running.

While the difference between Sawe’s and Pheidippides’s times is significant, more telling is the fact that, for nearly 2500 years, there was negligible improvement in the posted times of marathon winners. For example, Johnny Hayes, the 1908 Olympic marathon champion, won the gold medal with a world-record time of 2:55.18, which would not even meet today’s Boston Marathon qualifying time for men in the same age group.

While pundits would argue that Sawe’s record run was the result of advanced footwear, ideal race conditions, and a predominantly flat course, what cannot be dismissed is the immeasurable capacity of the human spirit, the physical body, and the trained mind; a scale of possibility that continues to reveal itself in myriad ways across the vast panorama of the human dilemma.

The limits God would have us reach

We’ve seen this trend at work in nearly every sport. The 1908 Olympic springboard diving event, for instance, included the forward one-and-a-half somersault not as a compulsory dive, but one of the 20 higher-risk options from which a diver might choose. Today, the four-and-a-half forward somersault is a standard, frequently performed competitive dive.

Whether it’s the four-minute-mile, the sub-10-second 100-meter dash, the perfect 10 in gymnastics, long jumping over 28 feet, or scoring 100 points in an NBA game, sports history is filled with declarations from experts, medical doctors, and sports commentators deeming certain barriers to be not only “unbreakable” but physically impossible.

Sabastian Sawe, however, would not be deterred from his quest by the pundits of his sport.

Beyond the sign of the cross and the folding of his hands in prayer after his victorious run, all accounts indicate that Sawe possesses a strong, foundational faith passed down by his family. Before the race, he promised to help finish building the church where his family in Kenya attends, and his parents were quick to praise God for their son’s victory.

Perhaps he understands that a gift received must be stewarded, nurtured, developed, tested, pushed, and expanded to the limits God would have it reach. It is in such a pursuit as this that God is glorified.

The pursuit of the imperishable

That we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps. 139:14), being made in the image of God (Gen. 1:27), crowned with glory and majesty (Ps. 8:5), has broad application to the unimaginable potential and possibilities of humankind as an expression of the inbreaking of the kingdom of God; perhaps even in and through athletic competition.

In recent years, there have been a substantial number of books, articles, and story lines that place the convergence of faith and sports in a negative light. While it’s important to acknowledge the potential for conflict when these two intersect, there are positive connections that, when rightly understood, prompt, inspire, and encourage us forward in the journey of faith.

Throughout the New Testament we find athletic metaphors utilized to highlight the development of a victorious faith (2 Tim. 2:5), how to fight the good fight (1 Tim. 6:12), and what is necessary to endure to the end (Heb. 12:1). Conceding that bodily training is just slightly beneficial (1 Tim. 4:8), the apostle Paul, nonetheless, observes in athletic competition a level of commitment and sacrifice that must be pursued with even greater fervor in the life of faith (1 Cor. 9:24-27).

Surely, the Corinthians recognized in Paul’s correspondence an allusion to the Isthmian Games, held every two years in Corinth as one of the four Panhellenic Games celebrating Greek athleticism. His acknowledgment of these athletes and the process by which they came to compete at the highest level—their determination, focus, discipline, self-control, and purposeful intentionality—implies that if such dedication goes into the attainment of a perishable wreath, should not the followers of Christ be even more diligent in their pursuit of the imperishable?

A desire to run well

From my observation as a football team chaplain for nearly forty years, I would offer to those critical of faith in sports that those athletes for whom faith truly matters and informs their life, the desired expression of their faith isn’t to crush an opponent, win at all costs, or entertain the crowds to gain their adoration. In fact, their preoccupation isn’t the next opponent or game but, rather, how they can best develop this unique gift God has entrusted to them, that they might maximize the possibilities of this gift. For these, their greatest opponent is the man in the mirror, and he is the one with whom they compete daily.

This mindset of faithful stewardship is most evident not on game day, but in the choices, decisions, and sacrifices made in their every waking moment. From what they eat, with whom they associate, where they go, their training effort, their studies, to what time they go to bed, to what time they awaken, it is all done heartily as for the Lord and not for man (Col. 3:23).

Because they were committed to Jesus being Lord of all, these few not only put themselves in a position to perform well in their tasks on gameday, but also became witnesses of the Faith, inspirational role models, respected voices, and leaders in the locker room.

In recent interviews, the humble Sabastian Sawe has acknowledged the downturns, challenges, and obstacles he has faced throughout his career, but he simply credits his disciplined, rigorous training for putting him in a position to run well. And from a desire to only run well emerged the unimaginable.

The race to which the followers of Jesus are called will undoubtedly be a course filled with difficulties and hardships, some bringing forth a degree of pain that could not have been anticipated, a pain that may well push some to the point of despair. It is in these moments most of all that we must recover the touchstone reality of who we are in Christ Jesus, that we are the children of God, fearfully and wonderfully made. By this, we persevere and endure to experience the unimaginable of what God has in store.

Denison Forum