Lessons from the Olympics

For the next few days the attention of the world will be on Vancouver, British Columbia. This Canadian province is the host city of the Winter Olympic Games. During the Olympics we occasionally hear a reference to “the Olympic ideal.” I wanted to gain a better understanding of what that means so I did a little research. The General Assembly of the United Nation states that the ideal of the Olympic Movement is to promote international understanding among the youth of the world through sport and culture. In other words, the ideal is to lay aside differences and be unified in a spirit of competition and sportsmanship. Over the years we have seen that happen, but we have also seen the dark side of human nature prevail as well.

I believe there are some lessons we can learn from the Olympics. One lesson is that we must learn to lay aside our differences and be unified. We will never agree on every point of doctrine or every issue. Our tendency is to major on the minors. Division among God’s people seldom happens over really significant things. The tragedy is that our enemy is able to blind us so we believe those insignificant issues are most important. In John 17 Jesus prayed for His followers to be unified. That should be a wake-up call for us every time we read it especially in light of the history of the Church. Unity is a big deal to God!

Another lesson from the Olympics is the value of doing your best even if you do not receive recognition. In every event there are only three medals awarded which means there are dozens of athletes in each event who have trained and prepared, but their names will remain in obscurity. God does not expect us to be the best, but He does expect us to do our best. We do not have equal gifts and potential, but we can give equal effort. There is real satisfaction in discovering our God-given passions and gifts then giving our best effort to honor the Lord even if no one else is aware of it.

A third and final lesson from the Olympics is that even when we do our best things will go wrong. Some things have already gone wrong in Vancouver. Our greatest challenge is how we respond when life does not go as we hoped or expected. It is then that our faith is tested and our priorities are revealed. My prayer is that we will continue to grow in grace.

Yours for the Kingdom,
David