Apart from the most avid sports enthusiasts, few people realize the importance of strategy in sports. It often determines who wins and who loses. Many times it is not the most athletic team or competitor that is victorious, but the best coached team or athlete. This explains the multimillion dollar contracts of some of today’s best coaches.

 

Having the right plan or strategy is as important for victory in life as it is for victory in an athletic contest. Granted, the best plans of men are ultimately dependent upon God for fruition (Proverbs 16:9). Still, this doesn't minimize the importance of each of us adopting a winning game-plan for life. Without the right strategy we are doomed to defeat, no matter how gifted we are or how hard we try.

 

Like sports, life sometimes necessitates a change in strategy. It is not just circumstances in the last quarter of a football game, the last inning of a baseball game or the last lap of a race that demands a different strategy, but also changing circumstances in our lives and world. Take for example a conversation overheard in a restaurant by columnist, Garrison Keillor. Two men sitting at a table behind him were discussing one’s recent visit to the doctor. In spite of the doctor’s diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, the cancer victim was admonished by his lunching pal not to give up. “I’m not giving up,” the cancer sufferer asserted, “I’m just not as interested in my pension as I used to be.”

 

Facing his own mortality necessitated a change in this cancer patient’s priorities. His pension no longer demanded as much attention. Diagnosed with the most lethal kind of cancer, he suddenly found himself in a whole new ballgame, necessitating a shift in strategy from concentrating mostly on an uncertain retirement to concentrating more on living in the moment.

 

In 1 Corinthians 7:29-31, the Apostle Paul advocates a change in strategy for Christian living. According to him, Christians are faced with a whole new ballgame, thanks to the imminence of Christ’s return and the shortness of time. The urgency of our work now necessitates that we no longer take the time to:

 

CATER TO OTHERS — “…it remaineth that both they that have wives be as though they had none.” 

 

CRY OVER DISAPPOINTMENTS — “And they that weep, as though they wept not…”

 

CELEBRATE SUCCESSES — “…and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not…”

 

CARE FOR OUR POSSESSIONS — “…and they that buy, as though they possessed not.”

 

CONCERN OURSELVES WITH THE THINGS OF THIS WORLD — “And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.”

 

Today, more than ever, Christians are facing a whole new ballgame. The world is aflame. The stage is rapidly being set for the biblically predicted end-time scenario. The signs of the times have become the headlines of our daily newspapers. Truly, we are on this world’s last lap; and as any champion miler will tell you, the last lap demands a different strategy. 

 

Running the last lap the same as all of the others in a race is a sure recipe for defeat. Only by running the last lap with a different strategy can one hope to win the race and emerge victorious. Likewise, our only hope of victorious Christian living today is to both acknowledge that we’re on the last lap and to adopt a different strategy for running it. If we fail to do so, we will either fail to finish strong or, even worse, fail to cross the finish line at all.

 

WE MUST GET TO THE INSIDE

 

Getting to the inside is the first thing that must be done on the last lap. Any runner who stays in the outside lanes will add unnecessary distance to the race and waste indispensable energy down the stretch, energy that is vital to victory.

 

As Paul exhorted the Corinthians, we must limit ourselves on the last lap to doing what God wants us to do. We can’t even afford to do what our spouses want us to (1 Corinthians 7:29). If we do, we may not have the energy or time to do what God wants us to, having exhausted ourselves and expended our time doing what others wanted us to do instead.

 

How can we know for sure what God wants us to do? The only way is by getting to the inside; that is, by having an intimate relationship with God. Of all of those in attendance at the supper in Bethany, it was Mary alone who knew that Jesus was already under the shadow of the cross and in need of being anointed for His burial (John 12:1-8). How did she know? Mary knew because she had “sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word” (Luke 10:38-42). 

 

It was Mary’s intimacy with Christ that translated into her timely service to Christ. Contrary to popular belief, it is not fruitful service to God that produces an intimate relationship with God, but vice versa. It is the Christian’s intimate relationship with God that produces his or her fruitful service to God. 

 

Nothing is more important in these last days than our intimacy with God. Only by getting intimate with Christ on this last lap can we hope to be victorious in our Christian service.

 

WE MUST DISTANCE OURSELVES FROM THE PACK

 

Defeat is inevitable to any runner caught in the pack on the last lap. Besides the danger of becoming entangled with others and tripped in the pack, the pack hems runners in prohibiting them from breaking free and taking the lead. Running in the pack on the last lap ensures defeat and eliminates the possibility of victory.

 

To be victorious in these last days, the church must distance itself from the worldly crowd. This is why Paul admonishes us in Romans 12:2, “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold” (J. B. Phillips Translation). No Christian or church seeking conformity to this world will emerge from it victorious in the end.

 

The desire to “fit in” or “to be a part of the crowd” is definitely a losing strategy to employ in these last days. No one content to run with the crowd will ever be victorious in their Christian life. Only those who are willing to separate themselves from the world will ever gain the victory over it (2 Corinthians 6:17). 

 

Along with distancing ourselves from the worldly crowd, we must also distance ourselves from worldly cares. In Hebrews 12:1, Paul explains how no one can victoriously run the Christian race who is entangled in worldly affairs or continuously tripping over besetting sins. 

 

My brother-in-law is into auto racing. This past summer, my wife and I went to watch him race at the Daytona Speedway. I was intrigued by how meticulously each car in the race was inspected and weighed. The least little difference in engineering or weight could give a driver an unfair advantage over all of the others. Thus, any driver with a souped-up or underweight car was immediately disqualified from the race.

 

As crucial as it is in auto racing, weight is even more crucial in the Christian race. There is no way to win the Christian race if we are weighed down with worldly concerns. Furthermore, now that we’re on the last lap, it is more important than ever that we free ourselves of all worldly encumbrances and entanglements; otherwise, we’ll end up bogged down by them and kept from faithfully finishing our course (2 Timothy 4:7).

 

In the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, Mary Decker Slaney—the world record holder in the 3000 meters—was heavily favored to win the gold medal in that event. However, Slaney’s hope of gold was lost when she was tripped by another runner and fell. Although she successfully returned to competition a year later, Mary Decker Slaney never achieved her lifelong goal of Olympic gold, due to her spectacular fall in the 1984 Summer Olympics.

 

How many Christians have failed to become all that they could be for God because of some spectacular fall in their life? How often has your own spiritual development been impeded by some besetting sin, a sin that you’ve not only failed to shed, but that has also caused you to frequently stumble in your Christian walk? While tripping over temptation always exacts a heavy toll, it is most unaffordable on the last lap. If we fall now, we lose; it’s that simple. Therefore, we must repent of all of our sins and sprint as sin-free as possible to the finish line. 

 

WE NEED TO KICK AND STRETCH OURSELVES TO THE FINSIH LINE

 

The last lap is the time for your kick. A kick is when a runner musters all of his remaining strength for a sudden burst of acceleration to get ahead of his competitors and across the finish line first. Historically, the greatest distance runners have been those with the best kicks; that is, those who ran their fastest on the last lap, in particularly, toward the finish line.

 

Back when I played ball in college, my teammates and I often admonished one another to “Leave it all on the field.” What we meant by this curious expression was that we should hold nothing back, but give it our all. Unbeknown to many, the greatest athletes are not always those with the greatest talent, but those with the greatest heart. They are those who refuse to give out, give in or give up, but insist upon giving their all until the finish line is crossed or the game is over.

 

In Philippians 3:13-14, the Apostle Paul reveals the heart of a true Christian champion. He tells how he is zeroed in on the finish line, so much so that nothing can distract his focus from it. Then, he explains how he is putting every ounce of his strength and every fiber of his being into crossing that finish line victoriously. With everything else faded from his sight, Paul was stretching himself beyond all limits to reach the finish line for Christ.

 

Have you ever noticed how runners stretch themselves to the finish line? Having already given it all that they have, they still stretch themselves further at the finish line. It takes this kind of extraordinary effort to win a race.

 

Since natural men are willing to put forth this kind of extraordinary effort to win a “corruptible crown” and the applause of men, shouldn’t spiritual men be willing to put forth this kind of extraordinary effort to win “an incorruptible crown” and the souls of men? According to the Apostle Paul, Christians should be more than willing to do whatever it takes to win immortal souls and an eternal reward (1 Corinthians 9:19-27). How much more so in this day and time, with the bell signifying the last lap ringing in our ears and the finish line finally in sight?