A Trained Professional IV: Lean Into The Punch

Regardless of context, topic or series I would write on in my blog God is the G.O.A.T. The greatest of all-time...in everything. He is the benchmark. He is the cornerstone. He is perfection. There is none greater. There is none more beautiful. Well, now that I got that out of the way…on to my vocation for this post…athletes and nary a mention of Tom Brady or Michael Jordon anywhere.

There are many metaphors in the Bible, borrowed from contests between athletes. The Apostle Paul was the most frequent user of these. Paul was was enabled by the Spirit to make many applications to sporting events of his time. It is ironic that although Paul refers to himself and other people in his passages as athletes...the object of his competitions is always the same. It is salvation found in beatings and crucifixion Christ endured. Every context, every competition pales in comparison. It is interesting that Paul understands that part of the conditioning of a fighter is body tempering to be able to take repeated debilitating blows. Just as a believer will need to take many blows and be knocked down frequently to live a long life in service to God. Just as Christ did at Golgotha.

Philippians 3:12 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…

2 Timothy 2:5 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

The word athlete in 2 Timothy 2:5 is actually ἀθλήσῃ/athlese or ‘one who competes / contends’. It carries a further significance of agonizing, as an athlete straining to obtain a prize. Agonizing...like carrying a cross to a crucifixion. Athletes don’t just compete. More often the practice twice as much as they compete to stay in condition. It is interesting to note that athlelos can also mean combat, therefore there is a further connection with “affliction”.  Just as Christ was afflicted. Part of competing in sports is prefaced with an acknowledgement that one will need to suffer to be the best at what they do through grueling endurance. There is a price to be paid for being the best. You will need to sacrifice yourself to the cause or goal. In my case it is back and joint pain from heavy lifting for nearly 40 years.

Hebrews 10:32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict (ἄθλησιν/athlesin) full of suffering.

Although athletics did not occupy a prominent place in Jewish life like they do today in America, there were public games connected with military sports for which purpose Jewish youths were instructed in the use of the implements of war, the spear, bow and sling. In the Jewish mind, due to their need to survive persecution and overcome obstacles there is an inextricable link between their ideas of sport and war in Biblical allusions.

King Saul himself is trained in the use of a spear/javelin also known as a ‘dart’ which was thrown with the hand or by the help of a thong tied round the middle of it to 'fling' it overhanded. We also know that the giant Goliath was also trained in its use for war. Saul and Goliath likely learned of their uses for combat not sporting competition. If we’re honest conflict and war are both forms of competition to see who wins. Unfortunately, war usually ends with the death of one of the combatants. 

Judges 20:16 16 Among all these were 700 chosen men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

1 Samuel 20:32-33 Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death.

Jonathan, son of a king is trained in the use of a bow and arrow when he warns/signals David.

1 Samuel 20:20 And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark.

1 Samuel 17:7 The shaft of his (Goliath's) spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him.

Then of course we have the use of a sling. Take your pick. We have David and we have the training of Saul’s kinsmen. Again we see the blurring of purpose between sport and war…they are both competitions but for different ends.

1 Samuel 17:50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

1 Chronicles 12:2 They were bowmen and could shoot arrows and sling stones with either the right or the left hand; they were Benjaminites, Saul's kinsmen.

The line between athletics and combat of course becomes further becomes muddled when we begin to discuss the gladiatorial ‘games’ which are in reality controlled war or slaughter. Although not elaborated on much in the Bible I would be remiss if I did not mention the persecution of early believers by their enemies in these arenas and colosseums. They are illustrated at least indirectly in three passages. We see the cruelty of the ‘games’ in which at Rome, Ephesus and elsewhere, men were brought forward to face death in the arena at the hands of gladiators or deadly beasts.

1 Corinthians 4:9 For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.

1 Corinthians 15:32 What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."

 Hebrews 10:32 But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings

There were many sports the Greeks and Romans loved. After his conversion Paul would not frequent heathen places of athletic competition but those to whom he ministered to were familiar with all kinds of games. That is why we see his constant use of the vocabulary of the athlete just as he used the vocabulary of the military when under house arrest and chained to a Praetorian Guard in the prison epistles. Paul knew the audience he was addressing and spoke in their slang. In doing so Paul illustrates the Christian as a boxer, wrestler, runner, gladiator, fighter of beasts. He shows salvation as the prize of a wreath of pine or palm leaves given an athlete for victory but the wreath that a believer would get would be imperishable unlike the earthly one awarded at the games.

In Ephesians we see wrestling. I used to wrestle in high school. I know how hard it is to compete full power and full speed for the duration of a wrestling match. It is grueling because you are usually evenly match in size and strength with your opponent. Such is the dilemma of sin. In actuality we are often out matched without God's help to overcome it.

Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

The word Paul uses for wrestling here is πάλη/pale which is akin to palto meaning to sway or vibrate. With this word Paul shows that spiritual conflict with satanic forces engaged in by believers is a give and take of strength, endurance and basically just grinding it out to stay off your back or avoid being put in a vulnerable position.

The runners mentioned in the Old Testament were remarkable for their swiftness and endurance. Runners like the fifty who ran before Absalom’s chariot, had to be swifter than horses. As royal messengers, runners ran speedily to execute their King’s sentences (1 Samuel 8:11; 22: 17; 2 Samuel 15:1; 1 Kings 1:5; 14: 27; etc.). David, speaking of Saul and Jonathan’s rapid onset on their enemies, describes them as having the swiftness of the eagle (2 Samuel 1:23).

In his endeavor to illustrate the truth he taught, Paul borrowed comparison from ancient sports. His most frequent illustration however was that of the runner. (See Romans 9:16; I Corinthians 9:24-26; 15:32; Galatians 2:2; 5:7; Philippians 2:16; 3:14; II Timothy 4:7; Hebrews 12:1, 2). In his allusion to the runner we see him in a race and his determination to win the prize. The believer having finished his course in victory would be rewarded from the hands of “the righteous Judge.” At death the race is over. The crown of victory is salvation.

I leave with the thought of the fighter or boxer since, in a way, living life to its meaningful end will be the fight of our lives as I said in the beginning.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 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.

Paul clearly says, “I do not box as one beating the air.” A spiritual boxer would not just be punching at empty air. Paul and we as believers would be dealing with antagonistic powers that are likely wiser and more clever than we are. Paul is essentially issuing a warning not to swing wildly and miss with our blows if we need to fight or defend against the unseen forces in this world under the sway of evil. Under God, every blow can and will land against our adversary. They will need to. Our adversary seeks to destroy us. 

Interestingly, when first introduced, boxing was practiced with the hands naked and unguarded but in time the hands were wrapped with thongs of leather. Eventually the Greeks in the time of Paul extended the thong wraps to the elbow or even shoulder. The part near the fist would be filled with metal adding to the force of the blow like weighted brass knuckles. To bear these type of blows inflicted on the body meant a boxer had to be fat or well muscled and hardy. If the blow connected with the adversary squarely…it could knock out the opponent or even kill them. 

Paul is clearly asserting that our blows, if they be necessary against our foe need to connect and incapacitate or end that which we strike. If we swing wildly and miss we leave ourselves open to counterstrikes we cannot fend off. Aim small miss small. Our salvation isn’t a game. Punch with the weight of the cross behind you and lean into it. Death will eventually overtake us but like Christ's victory over death we'll come out the other side swinging.