Straining Toward The Goal / Trusting in Christ and Pressing on to Maturity
It’s not that I have already reached this goal or have already become perfect. But I keep pursuing it, hoping somehow to embrace it just as I have been embraced by the Messiah Jesus. Brothers, I do not consider myself to have embraced it yet. But this one thing I do: Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I keep pursuing the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly call in the Messiah Jesus.
Phil 3:12-14
Ian, what are you doing? You talk of One thing and yet you give us two titles. Is it that you can’t make up your mind? Like Paul you seem to be caught in two minds (Phil 1:23) but you are to have one mind, the mind of Christ. Ah, you are beginning to see what Paul is doing. I have given you two titles in keeping with the one we have been using but have given you a second one in keeping with Paul’s sporting analogy. Do you see how well it fits? Clearly Paul’s one thing is not sport of any kind. He is focused on one thing, the thing I spelled out to you in the last Gem and which he openly states. Have you so quickly forgotten it? Go to the bottom of this Gem and click on the previous Gem to refresh your mind. Paul is using sport as his motif and in particular the sport of running in the context of the Pan Hellenic Games. So he has written what he has with running a race in mind. It fits his purpose so well. As i told you in the last few Gems, the timing of this is perfect for us 21st Century citizens because we have just witnessed the Olympics and the Para Olympics in Tokyo and then we have followed the last Grand Slam tennis event of 2021, the US Open Tennis. I am interested in all four – The Olympics (2x), The Tennis and the goal of winning the prize of God’s heavenly call in the Messiah Jesus. But Ian, we are to have one goal in mind not four. Exactly!
What I intend to do is to investigate this passage first from the viewpoint of Paul’s analogy of the Greek Games (including the Olympics). Paul deliberately used this example to great effect. There are so many parallels. Let’s look for them. When we have finished gathering them together we will return to that which was Paul’s One Thing.
I chose the ISV translation as the wording is succinct and skilfully put to create the parallels between Paul’s One Thing and the one thing of the athlete – the runner or the tennis player. So initially we will focus on Paul’s sporting motif then we will come back to recap and draw out the analogies related to Christ. Paul’s example here is nothing short of brilliant. Allow me to pick out for you the key words.
- Not already reached the goal
- Not already become perfect
- I keep pursuing it
- Somehow to embrace or attain it
- This one thing I do
- Forgetting what is behind
- Straining forward to what lies ahead
- I keep pursuing the goal
- To win the prize
When I need to I will resort to the Greek text to draw out the subtleties or nuances of the words Paul uses. But initially I will comment on them from the perspective of a sportsman. I can, because I have been one. Tennis was my game but I have been into running too. Not from the point of the view of the race; rather to build my fitness, both for tennis, the tennis marathon and for football (true football not the kind where you pick the ball up and run with it). Paul’s words here are remarkable in the depth of understanding they evidence. Then we will investigate what Paul wrote.
No sports person, especially in their development phase ever considers they have reached their goal or have become perfect. The true competitor continues until they have perfected their game or their sport. Always trying new techniques, perfecting repetitions, developing muscle memory and aiming to achieve perfection which seems just out of reach. Every sportsman or sportswoman or recently sports girl devotes time and energy to gaining expertise, strength and endurance while striving to be the best. Within the last week we have been given a perfect example in Emma Raducanu, the 18 year old young woman who won the US Open Women’s Tennis Title. Two people have asked me since Sunday (NZ Time) how this qualifier could possibly have won the title of a Grand Slam tennis event. “She was just a qualifier!” “It has never been done before.” How was it even possible Ian?” “Maybe it was made easier because she met another girl in the final.” As if that somehow lessened the quality of her achievement.
Allow me to tell you that which Paul has hinted at. The hint is found in the title I chose for this Gem. This One Thing I Do. Nobody is going to come out of the blue and win the US Open or achieve an Olympic Gold Medal without doing one thing for years. Emma Raducanu is no exception but she is exceptional. I first noticed her in Wimbledon where she made it to the fourth round, the second week of Wimbledon. She had to retire at that point because of a breathing problem. Many thought she was not match hardened and the big moment was too much for her. I had seen enough of her tennis to know that was not the case. All the signs were there that she was well drilled, well coached and had tonnes of potential. I have since found out she has been part of the British LTA development squad and participated in the Battle of the Brits. She can give Andy Murray stiff competition. I rest my case. She has been playing tennis since she was 5 years old, coached by her father. This was no fluke; I saw all the signs in her game. Emma set goals and sought to attain to them. The first was to beat her tennis coach dad. Following that she needed the help of the English Lawn Tennis Association and opponents like Andy Murray to hit with to adjust to the speed and timing of shot making.
It is not by accident or chance that Paul uses the notion “to attain to” and its derivatives and synonyms five times in three verses.
- καταντήσω – I may attain to (3:11)
- ἔλαβον – I received (3:12)
- καταλάβω – I may lay hold (3:12)
- κατελήμφθην – I was laid hold of (3:12)
- κατειληφέναι – to have laid hold (3:13)
Paul knows exactly what he is doing in gathering these words together, but I have said enough for the moment. I will return to the matter of attaining to when we return to Paul’s main thing in a few Gems.
How does an Olympic gold medalist or a winner of a tennis Grand Slam tournament do it? By endless repetition. I can’t count the number of times I practised my first and second serves in reaching the level of Wilding Shield Tennis and playing in tournaments those who had played at Wimbledon:- Onny Parun, Brian Fairlie, Jeff Simpson and Chris Lewis et al. I would spend hours with 6 dozen balls serving them into the ad court at one end and then back to the deuce court at the other end. Drilling with an opponent the backhand cross court top spin passing shot for hours. That is what it takes. That is what Paul is talking about when he talks of “this one thing I do”. That is what lies behind attaining to something of worth. Endless hours of practice. You have got the idea now.
Now I will switch to Paul’s running references. For that we need to look carefully at the following words:
- διώκω – I pursue
τὰ μὲν ὀπίσω ἐπιλανθανόμενος τοῖς δὲ ἔμπροσθεν ἐπεκτεινόμενος
{the things} {on the one hand} behind forgetting {the things} {on the other hand} before {stretching forward to}
- διώκω – I keep pursuing
- σκοπὸν – the goal
εἰς τὸ βραβεῖον τῆς ἄνω κλήσεωςτοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ ᾿Ιησοῦ
{into ~ up to} {of the} prize {of the} high calling {of God} in Christ Jesus
I may have given you too much with this list. A list made a little more complicated by including two sets of interlinearised Greek. Talk to me and I can adjust the level of difficulty. I just thought those of you who are busting to know the details might like a forward look into the complexity of what Paul wrote. For those of you who are scared off by Greek words, just think of the following.
- forgetting the things behind
- stretching forward to the things in front
- pursuing the goal
- pursuing the prize
I will leave it there for this Gem.
To uncover your true potential you must first find your own limits, and then you have to have the courage to blow past them.
Picabo Street
If you don’t have confidence you’ll always find a way not to win.
Carl Lewis
Run when you can, walk when you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up.
Dean Karnazes – Marathon Runner
I’ve always been aware that the image you patiently construct for an entire career can be ruined in a minute. It scares you a bit, but that’s the way things are.
Roger Federer