I apologize for how sporadic blogs have been in the past. Now that I’m actually on the race, posts will be much more regular. My goal is to post one to two blogs per week. This blog post was written over the course of three countries in as many days, two airplanes, four airports and over 9,000 miles. Needless to say it’s been a bit hectic recently, but the point is that I’m determined to upload regularly.
Before any of that though, I spent five days with my squad at “Launch” in Atlanta, Georgia learning last minute tools for evangelism and discipleship while on the race. During one such session geared towards the men, the speaker used an analogy to show us what it should look like.
He asked for five volunteers and was quickly joined in the front by a handful of fairly large guys eager to see where he was going with this. “You.” he pointed at the five boys, “represent sin.” He then walked over to the group and separated one (My teammate Parker) by moving him to the opposite end of the stage. Motioning this time to him he told the crowd that this volunteer represented anyone pursuing intimacy with Christ.
“Go!” he told him, “Run from sin!” Immediately, all five took off across the room, Parker running frantically around, over and through the chairs as the others trailed not far behind. Around and around the room they went, slamming into walls as those observing watched in fascination at the suddenly chaotic metaphor. Soon however the inevitable happened. Those representing sin had cornered Parker and were closing in on all sides.
Then, to the surprise of everyone, Parker faked left and darted to his right, escaping through a narrow gap in the chairs overlooked by the others. Victorious cheers erupted from the spectators as he ran full speed toward the opposite corner of the room. The speaker, instead of joining in the celebration, merely added five more volunteers to sin’s number, and Parker was quickly tackled despite his heroic efforts.
After regrouping, He asked the audience, “What did Parker accomplish?”. A resounding silence filled the room. Finally a hesitant “Nothing?” drifted up from somewhere in the center of the room. “Exactly. He accomplished nothing.” he responded.
Instead of choosing to elaborate, he simply said, “Okay, new scenario.” He directed Parker to one side of the stage and took his place at the other, placing the remaining four in the middle. “I represent Jesus. Parker, run to me.” He took off at full speed, ramming violently into the four others determined to keep him from the other side. Grunting with effort he lowered his head in an attempt to gain leverage, but instead was lifted off his feet and thrown to the ground, disappearing from view beneath a pile of struggling bodies.
“Someone else.” the speaker said, motioning to the crowd for another participant willing to face the panting, but no less menacing barrier ahead of them. One of the largest men in the crowd walked confidently to the front, and took his starting position to the left of the stage. Lowering his shoulder he barreled toward the opposite side of the stage. He quickly broke through the first two defenders, but the third grabbed his heel and brought him down, allowing the others to catch up and pin him to the ground.
“Another.”
A tall, slender boy jogged to the front. Instead of charging forward though, he darted in the opposite direction, running the perimeter of the room and attempting to circle around his opposers rather than going through them. The four others didn’t follow, instead opting to circle the speaker and therefore making it impossible to avoid hopeless confrontation. Seeing this, the boy attempted a juke only to be quickly surrounded and taken to the ground.
“Another.”
An older boy was brought to the ground following a spirited charge around the room.
“Another.”
This time, a younger boy tentatively made his way to the front, a humble confidence showing in the way he walked past the defenders to take his place on the far side of the stage.
“Ready?” the speaker asked, an evident lack of expectation hanging in the air alongside the unanswered question. The young boy answered with a soft “MmHm” as he gazed at the boys ahead of him as they looked on with a soft mockery dancing behind expectant eyes. Nodding in acknowledgement, the speaker opened his mouth to commence what would be a futile exercise, but before speaking the young boy asked, “If you’re Jesus, can you come to me?”
“Always.”
And with that the speaker bolted forward, laying one of the larger boys on the ground, and shoving another to the side before they could turn around. The volunteer previously so hesitant suddenly darted with confidence under two swiping arms and around the quick but delayed lunge of another.
Though caught unaware, the defenders quickly rallied, managing finally to lay hands on the agile boy, and once in their grasp were able to pin him with relative ease. They then turned their attention to the speaker, forming a semicircle around the boy and separating them. As a unit, they began to close in on the speaker, blocking him almost entirely from view.
A disappointed silence washed over the onlookers, their spark of hope taken almost as suddenly as it was given. Scattered sighs escaped as those in the room realized they had been holding their breath, and one long second stretched into two.
An eruption from the stage. The speaker’s fiery eyes emerged from the pack followed by two hands that violently cast aside anything standing between him and the now silent boy. Two seconds became three. He moved half a foot closer, only to be grabbed by the foot. A kick and grunt later he grasped the arm of the boy he was fighting to save.
Three seconds snapped into four and he clasped his other arm, using his newfound leverage to pull the boy away from his captors and into his embrace. The fifth second floated heavily over the room.
As disciples, we run a two-sided race, our pursuit of Christ only a broken reflection of His desperate fight for us. I sit writing this blog half a world away from everything I have known, in a culture I have never experienced, amidst people seemingly far more qualified than myself. After only two days here I have begun drowning in comparison and victimization as I chose to focus on my own qualification rather than the power found in God’s fierce pursuit of me. Instead, amidst the language barriers, amidst the spiritual attacks and the fear I will take my eyes off of the waves I cannot hope to stand against and fix them on the one who can. I will cling to his arms as he pulls me away from my bondage and into his embrace.
