Endurance

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.--Hebrews 12:1-2

The Amplified Bible says Jesus "endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame."

Being crucified was just about the most shameful thing a person in Jesus' day could endure. It is only fitting that the Lamb was sacrificed this way, because the cross symbolizes our shame--how sin makes us weak and mortal and treats us like animals, the lowest of the low, filthy and rejected.

But Jesus ignored the shame of the cross....for the joy that was set before Him. That joy was you and me and our restoration to righteousness and relationship with the Father.

So what does this mean for our "running the race with endurance"?

I'm glad you asked! And if you didn't, I'm going to answer that question anyway.

I want to talk about an essential component of endurance that shapes our faith walk (run). We've all seen the word "endurance" written intimidatingly and ambiguously on T-shirts in the Nike outlet. It's easy to wear endurance, but how easy is to actually, well, endure? This may be obvious, but I think the most important thing about running with endurance is simply not giving up.

I'm a runner. Really, I'm a sprinter, you might say. I will go all-out for a short distance, then quit. You have to have powerful muscles and heart to be a sprinter. But to be a distance runner, you need powerful muscles, heart, bones, ligaments, tendons, toenails, and especially mind. Distance running is hard, man. I think people often fail to realize how difficult it can be to just continue to put one foot in front of the other, even when the finish line is still so, so far away. You have to make up your mind that you are going to finish, no matter what. Eventually, you cease to be tired, and good form becomes habit. (Just ask Forrest Gump.) But I think a lot of people quit before that point.

In other words, most people can run, but few can run with endurance, because they quit when they make a mistake.

In my last post, I wrote about Philippians 3:7-11. I want to continue with that passage.

Not that I have already obtained this [the resurrection from the dead] or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (3:12-14).

Endurance is not about being perfect (as Paul said) or about never messing up, but rather about continuing on even when you mess up. It's about leaving the past in the past. It's about confessing our mistakes, standing up again, dusting off our running shorts. Then we despise the shame by ignoring the voices of condemnation--taking the first step out again, believing in our redemption on the cross. We've made up our minds. We believe in God's redemption, we hope in it with all our might, and we are going to finish the race.

Imagine an athlete training for a marathon. That takes dedication and months of hard work. If, on the day of the race, he trips and falls on mile 6, what is he going to do? Stand up, shake off the dust, and...walk off?

No. He keeps going, because he has trained for this event. He won't be daunted even by his own errors.

I had a bad day yesterday. It wasn't circumstantially bad, it was just bad internally. My attitude was bad. My thoughts were rude and insensitive toward others, and my selfish heart demanded its own way more than a few times. Once I got started with the bad attitude, it was hard to stop. So of course, being human, I did the right thing and just kept letting it have its way. You can imagine that, by the end of the day, even though my sin was not so outward and obvious, I felt like a failure in need of deep spiritual exfoliation.

I know you've had a day like that. Maybe, just maybe, more than once.

I think maturity in Christ is being selfless (ie, not concerned with yourself) enough to realize that, although we shouldn't actively seek to have days like that, one day shouldn't make us quit on eternity. Because, really, it's not about us. Jesus bought our righteousness, and our sins are redeemed.

I'm not giving people permission to sin, or telling you not to confess your sins. If you think about it, endurance means just the opposite. As soon as you stop running the race, that's when you start sinning all over the place, because you've given up. But I know you're smarter than that. As long as you continue running, you're going to get where you're going. And the finish line isn't hell. It's heaven.

When you make a mistake, or even when you just feel rotten about your heart attitude, it's pretty easy to wallow in self-pity and slip into more mistakes because you don't feel you are good enough to do right. It's easy to turn around and try to start over again while all the other runners continue on up the steep part of the mountain. It's easy to make excuses and give in more and more until, before you know it, you're on the sidelines in a fold-out chair with a glass of lemonade and a visor, watching everyone run by and wondering how your muscles got so atrophied.

It's a lot harder to forgo the pity party, accept Jesus' righteousness and forgiveness, and get back into a race that is hard, where you are still going to have to come face to face with your own weaknesses and keep on going anyway.

As a runner, I know that the more you slow down, the harder it is to speed back up again. I think the New Testament apostles probably saw a lot of new Christians get excited, then fizzle out when they made mistakes. Destroyed by guilt and self-condemnation, they forfeited the sacred prize that God had created just for them.

Jesus endured the shame of the cross because He knew where He was going. He had His eyes on heaven, and no one could take away His royalty, even as He was beaten and mocked.

I think the cornerstone of endurance is continuing to believe God's promises that you are righteous and forgiven even when your own heart says otherwise. I think it means continuing to look at the face of Jesus, and believe on His character, even when you make a mistake.

At the end of his life, Paul said, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7). Finishing the race means keeping the faith--not giving up on God just because you aren't the most holy kid in Sunday school. What does God's righteousness have to do with you?

This is why we are to keep our eyes on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. If we keep our eyes on Him, we keep our eyes off of ourselves.

Which is usually a good policy. Especially when you're running.