My first year serving as the Veritas Cross Country Coach has given me cause to consider the many nuanced aspects of the discipline of running. As a runner myself, I’ve personally enjoyed the simplicity and challenge of the sport for years, but in training our varsity students to push their limits and run their fastest, God has shown me even more depths of how the sport can build up not only our physical but also our spiritual strength and endurance.

As a coach it has been my privilege and responsibility to instill these truths and training into our students heads and hearts, and now as the season has drawn to an end, I’d like to take a moment to share these reflections with you, my fellow parents, to encourage you to help your children “run the good race” - even if they never set foot on a 5K course.

Endurance

I competed in a local 5k recently and even though I ran in high school and in college, I forgot how hard racing is. While other sports take a lot of athletic ability and skill, running requires sheer guts and fortitude more than just about any other sport. Physically and (maybe more importantly) mentally, you have to get to the point where you can run a required amount without stopping.

It’s like sin. If you give in once, it’s easier to do it a second time. There are no shortcuts. And this requires a tremendous amount of discomfort that you have to learn to tolerate. But the more you run, the easier it becomes. Change often hurts! The process of sanctification often hurts. Pulling out those dearly loved sins to which we cling hurts! It’s not an easy process, but the result is beautiful.

But the same is true as we apply the more virtuous habits of seeking after the Lord. The more we draw near to Him, he will draw near to us (and the enemy will flee)! Often, though, this takes repetition and time to build up into a habit of walking closer with God, in step with His word.

Self-Sacrifice

Jesus tells his disciples to “take up your cross and follow me.” While I don’t want to sound cliché or lighten the weight of this verse in any way, I do think that an athlete who appreciates a certain amount of discomfort may have a better understanding of this verse. Self-denial and sacrifice, not for the sake of itself, but for the sake of love, is what Jesus calls us to. He calls us to set aside our own wants for the love of others and to obey Him because it will bring us greater joy.

Our natural desires are weak. We want to stop and walk. We don’t want to go all-in for Jesus and deny ourselves. Our limited knowledge and our weak hearts can’t imagine that self-sacrifice could bring joy. But God knows that He is our greatest source of joy and once we trust Him and believe that then peace, security, and joy will flow from that relationship with Him.

Vulnerability

One thing I love about running cross country is that you are part of a team. Everyone is important. Everyone matters. You all win together, you lose together. It’s about relationships, working together, undergoing discomfort and disappointment together, and learning how to get back up and do it again tomorrow. It’s the same with our sin. We set goals to overcome certain sins, then it seems that the next minute we’re already falling into those same offences and failing in our goals. But when we repent and trust that Jesus’s blood washes away those sins, we start fresh each time. We get back up even when we’ve fallen, no matter how hard.

I think most team sports are a good example of forgiveness and redemption, of relationships and vulnerability. We don’t want to let others see us mess up. We don’t want to be the last runner to cross the finish line. But it takes guts to be that last runner in a race! Whether you fall in a race, fumble a football, or miss an easy layup, your performance is right there for everyone to see.

It would do us all some good if we could be as vulnerable in the rest of our lives as we are when we compete in a sport. We all mess up at times and it’s okay for others to see that. That’s what’s beautiful about the gospel. Jesus forgives us and loves us even when we fail, because we will. But He reaches out his hand and picks us back up so we can continue to “run with endurance the race set before us.”

It’s a poignant picture of the same way we are in parenting our kids. We remember that as a family, we are their teammates, coaches, and biggest cheerleaders. They will fall, but through our example and our encouragement, we can show them that there is grace for a new day, and strength to get up again and keep persevering - whether it’s in a sport or physical challenge, or in overcoming a sin stronghold. As we fix our eyes on Jesus, we lead our family to, as Paul says in Philippians 3:13-14, forget what is behind, strain toward what lies ahead, and press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus.