The Believer’s Development - Hebrews 12:1-7, 11-17
By David Woods
When I was a teenager I enjoyed running. I even ran competitively the mile run a few times. I did not always win, but I tried my best to win. Today I occasionally go running… when I feel like it. Often when I go running, I will jog for a while, then I will walk for a while, then I will start jogging again. In my defense, usually when I do this, I will be running/walking for several miles, not just one mile.
The Christian race the Hebrews writer pictures in verses one through three is not one of competition against other Christians for first place. Rather, it is a competition against oneself. It is a race of endurance. The race is not won by having the fastest lap time; it is won by crossing the finish line. The Hebrews writer is greatly concerned that many Christians do not approach the race of the Christian life with the seriousness, focus, and determination that crossing the finish line requires.
Big Idea:The Christian race is won by persistence.
Discussion: Do we approach the Christian life as a race that must be won?
(Personally, I think we often do not. Instead, I think we see the Christian life as something we possess - a ticket we have received to a game (Heaven). But the question we further need to consider is, “What does it mean for the Christian life to be a race?” What kind of mindset does this entail?)
1. The Winner’s Passion, v. 1.
Discussion: Why should the “cloud of witnesses” inspire us? (The following list may not be exhaustive.)
- These witnesses are saints who have already crossed the finish line.
- These witnesses are people who have had the persistence and passion to finish the race successfully.
- These witnesses testify to us through the story of their lives concerning the passion and determination we need to run a good race.
2. The Winner’s Purpose, v. 1.
Discussion: As you picture a successful runner preparing to run a race, what kind of mindset does this person have as he/she gets set to run?
One commentator writes, "The Greek word for 'weight' can mean body bulk, excess weight. For spiritual athletes that can be a case of too many irons in the fire, too many dissipating interests, too many branches of good things that suck the vital energy from the very best.”
Reflection: What good things are distracting you from full pursuit of God?
Evaluate: Are the dominating interests of your life really worth your time?
The Hebrews writer also tells us to lay aside “the sin which doth so easily beset us.” The Hebrews writer is not suggesting that it is possible for a Christian to habitually sin. Rather, he is talking about human tendencies or faults that we have and that are difficult to overcome.
Reflection: In what following area of life are you weakest spiritually - a roaming eye, a grumbling stomach, unstable emotions, a sharp tongue, etc.?
Discussion: How does one get rid of such besetting sins?
3. The Winner’s Perspective, vv. 2, 3.
The word “author” means “one that takes the lead in any thing and thus affords an example, a predecessor in a matter, pioneer.” The word “finisher” means “one who has in his own person raised faith to its perfection and so set before us the highest example of faith.”
Discussion: What does it mean for Jesus to be the founder and perfector of our faith?
(Jesus has run the race before us. He has successfully completed it.)
Discussion: What confidence does that fact that Jesus has run the race and completed it successfully give us?
The Hebrews writer has written the exhortation of verses one through three in hopes that we will not be “wearied and faith in [our] minds.”
Discussion: What is the great concern the Hebrews writer has? With what is he not greatly concerned?
(Answer: He is concerned that we will lack mental toughness, but he is not concerned that we will not have enough strength to finish the Christian race. Rather, he assumes that we will have the strength.)
Discussion: How can we develop and promote mental toughness in our individual spiritual lives and also as a local church?
One of my favorite writers is Gordon MacDonald. In A Resilient Life, MacDonald talks about his experience on the Stony Brook School track team, a college preparatory school.
Originally, MacDonald wanted to play football, but it quickly became obvious that his skinny frame was not suited for that sport. He was traded to the track team for nothing. Gordon spent his first few days running time trials. His self-confidence sagged. But finally Coach Goldberg called him over and challenged him. He asked, “Gordie, are you willing to pay the price it takes to become a Stony Brook trackman?” (p. xiii) Gordon, maybe a bit rashly, decided that he did.
In chapter one of this book Gordon talks about a phone call he made after his mother’s death. This one cousin began telling him stories about his mother’s family he never knew.
“Your mother’s family was a bunch of quitters,” my cousin said bluntly. “When life toughened, the brothers drank and the sisters complained. Then they simply gave up and died … one by one.” (p.1)
This somewhat insensitive remark set Gordon to thinking. He realized that what this cousin said was true. He writes:
Before the conversation with my cousin, I had never connected the dots of my mother’s life in such a way that I could see these underlying patterns. A single pejorative word - like quitter - can sometimes make that happen. Now, spurred on by that word, a lot of things became clear to me - about my mother and about myself. Finishing things was a challenge for both of us. It marked our character. The best way I could put it was this: I had a quitter’s gene in me. (p. 2)
MacDonald then writes of his time with Coach Goldberg. During the summer before his last year at the preparatory school, Gordon decided he wanted to quit the cross-country team.
He didn’t want to tell the coach this to his face, so he decided to write a letter. The coach responded with a letter that MacDonald says went something like this:
“By not running with the cross-country team this fall, you will have made the following choices: You will have disappointed your teammates, who depend upon you to help them win races. You will have turned your back on the team’s supporters, who have shown up at every race in the past to cheer on athletes like yourself. But most of all” - and here he went straight at the jugular vein - “you will have inadvertently reinforced a dangerous character trait: specifically that whenever you are faced with a challenge you don’t like, or that seems to difficult, or that asks from you too great a sacrifice, you will find it easier and easier to walk away from it” … in othe words, to quit. (pp. 3-4)
I’m afraid that Gordon MacDonald is not the only person with a quitter’s gene. Rather, I think many find it very easy to give up and quit when the going gets tough. Sometimes, Christians give up on the Christian life and backslide for good. Sometimes, Christians will give into temptation temporarily or fail to scale spiritual heights to which God is challenging them - and so live hypocritical lives.
The Christian race is won by persistence. Therefore, I challenge you to give God your all. Don’t give up prematurely. Christ will give you strength for every step. Trust Him. Run the race with perseverance!