by David Phelps

“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” – Mother Teresa

September, 2021

I started writing this ahead of time so bear with me for still having Olympics on the brain. The postponed 2020 Olympics, earlier this summer, were in many ways a spectacle to overcoming adversity, both on and off the sports field. After they were cancelled for 2020, the organizers were determined that the games would go on in Tokyo, Japan.

One of the amazing things about the Olympic games is the sometimes-narrow margin between winning and losing, not only between gold, silver, and bronze, but between any of those and not standing on the podium at all. In some events, the difference between gold and silver is measurable in hundredths of a second! Imagine running or swimming for hundreds of meters (a bit over 39 inches, or 3 feet 3 inches, for those of us who are metrically challenged or just prefer old fashioned feet and yards), doing your very best, only to lose by inches!

Even more recently, 2016 and 2020 Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, of Jamaica, posted the second fastest 100-meter (109 yards, 1 foot, 1 inch) time in history at 10.54 seconds, but still fell short of Florence Griffith-Joyner’s 1988 record of 10.49 seconds. I’m certainly no athlete, as anyone who knows me—or has even seen me—can attest, but it must be simultaneously exhilarating and disheartening to run such an incredible race and still come up short. Imagine running the race of your life, the race of a dozen lifetimes, a literal race for the record books—only to wind up in second place and by only 0.05 seconds.

But I’d be remiss if I didn’t also remember the 20th anniversary of 9/11 later this month. At the time, I wrote, in part,
. . . And yet, those of us who are members of the community of faith know that “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the lord.” (Rom. 12:19b KJV). It is not up to us to decide that we can have justice by killing and maiming possibly-innocent people. Our call is for a higher justice, one that meets the holy standards of God.

We have trusted in our own strength to protect us, rather than the matchless power of God. All of our military might and technological prowess was of no avail against twisted hearts and plastic knives. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Eph. 6:12 NIV). Our weapons can protect against flesh and weapons but not against evil. For that battle, we need “the full armor of God” (Eph. 6:10-18). Only this armor can protect us from the desire to substitute vengeance for justice. . . .

Regardless of their event, Olympians have one thing in common: They persist. They keep running, jumping, swimming, and lifting long after others would have quit. Coming in “second” doesn’t stop them. “Losing” by hundredths of a second doesn’t stop them. They keep going, keep striving. Even if Elaine Thompson-Herah never beats Florence Griffith-Joyner’s record, she will still be a champion. She will be a champion as long as she keeps running, as long as she keeps trying, as long as she never quits.

The same is true for us. As long as we don’t quit, as long as we don’t surrender, as long as we continue to pursue justice, we will be “more than conquerors” (Rom. 8:37). Our guest preacher, Rev. Steve Wall-Smith, recently referred to Ephesians 6, about the “full armor of God.” One verse stands out in its relevance to our struggle against the forces of darkness in our world: “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” (Eph. 6:13 NIV). We are truly living in evil days, and we need God’s help to stand, to keep going, to finish the race.


“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness,” (2 Tim. 4:7-8a NIV).
Copyright © 2021 by David Phelps