Choose Your Own Pace

Choose Your Own Pace

Gather a group of runners and you’ll discover many similarities in purposes, goals, motivations, nutrition, and favorite time of the day to run. But their differences are numerous and dramatic. Beyond the obvious ones of sex, age, and size, they also differ in running styles, routines, strides, and physical strengths and weaknesses—to name a few. We know that no two human beings are exactly alike, and the same can be said for runners. That’s why each runner should establish running goals, a training schedule, and a racing pace that are appropriate for him or her. A six-foot-three-inch, 230-pound, forty-year-old business executive shouldn’t expect to run like a 110-pound world-class runner from Kenya. That’s obviously an extreme example, but the principle is the same. Each person should choose his or her own pace; copying someone else would be a mistake.

Individual believers vary as well, even though they may look similar, be in the same age group, come from the same socioeconomic and educational background, and go to the same church. Copying another person’s spiritual race strategy would also be a mistake. Paul tells us:

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. (Romans 12:2-3)

The Runner

“We’ll run together,” Jan told her friend Sue over coffee. They had both decided to enter the big marathon coming up in six months in the neighboring state. So they decided on a workout schedule and held each other accountable to keep it. Seldom could they actually train together because of their family and work situations. But they had a goal and were working faithfully toward reaching it. And they had compared their times for various runs—not the same, but close enough, especially at the beginning. Eventually the gap in times widened, but they simply wrote off the slower time as running in the afternoon instead of the morning or another reason or two.

Race day arrived. They had driven to the city the night before and stayed at a hotel near the starting line. They were ready to go on that crisp and overcast morning. The gun sounded, and along with the other five thousand or so runners, they took off, starting slow, as was their plan. But at about the 10K mark, where they should have been picking up the pace, Jan found herself struggling to keep up, and Sue was frustrated as she kept looking back to find Jan, not wanting to lose her in the sea of runners. At an aid station a couple of miles later, Jan said through gulps of water, “You go on—run your pace. I’ll see you at the finish line.”

Reluctantly, Sue agreed, and they kept running. Both finished, Sue about twenty minutes before Jan.

The Race

Although Jan and Sue had much in common and were highly motivated to run together, their differences put them on separate running paces. Yet both were successful—each one reached her goal. People are different.

According to our Romans 12 passage, we shouldn’t “copy the behavior and customs of this world.” We should be different on the inside, in worldview, perspective, values, and more; and those differences should affect how we look on the outside—our attitudes and actions. God is changing the way we think, how we approach life. So why would we even be tempted to copy the pace and style of worldly “runners”? But Paul also issues this warning: “Don’t think you are better than you really are.” Overrating ourselves will only get us into trouble. (That would be like the middle-aged businessman thinking he can run a sub-three-hour marathon.) Instead, we need to take a realistic and honest personal inventory, measuring ourselves by God’s standards. If we’re honest with ourselves, we know our strengths and weaknesses, our triumphs and tragedies, and our dreams and disasters.

In addition, each person has a unique blend of abilities, talents, and spiritual gifts (the focus of Romans 12:4-8). Instead of copying someone else and trying to use what we don’t have, we should use the gifts we have for God’s glory, setting our own spiritual pace.

We are also painfully aware of where we need help with our personal set of problems and challenges. These vary greatly from person to person as well. The marriage challenges for a newlywed are quite different from someone who has just celebrated his or her fortieth anniversary. Parents of teenagers will have a whole new set of questions than when their kids were toddlers. Someone facing the severe illness or death of a loved one will need spiritual resources that others take for granted.

Choose your own pace.

The Result

Setting a personal pace in the Christian race will involve finding and using the appropriate resources, including wise counsel from other believers who have already traveled this stretch of the race. It will mean identifying and using your spiritual gifts:

Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. (Romans 12:4-8)

Choose your own pace.

My Story

I’m a runner, but I’m not a marathoner. To call myself one, I would need to have run 26.2 miles in a race. To get to this point, a runner needs eighteen weeks of focused training. To be ready to train, many coaches advise three months of building a base--easy running to get into basic fitness. Yearly I tell my friends, “This year.” And yearly I don’t do it. I cannot decide on race day to run a marathon.

Am I a marathoner in matters of Christian service? Some ministries, like mowing a widow’s lawn, can be jumped into headlong, like a 5K road race. Other ministries, like translating the Bible into a new language, require years of training and research. This year?

Anthony

Think It Through

1. When are you tempted to “copy the behaviors and customs of this world”?

2. Think of three or four runners you know. How do they differ in running ability, endurance, and motivation? Think of three or four of your Christian friends. How do they differ in spiritual giftedness?

3. As you set your spiritual pace, what resources do you need?

4. What can you do to better utilize your spiritual gifts in serving God and building up his church?

On Running

How does my perception of my ability affect my performance?

How you see yourself in terms of ability affects how you perform in many areas, including running. A low perception of your ability will decrease your effort, persistence, and performance. In other words, if you don’t think you can run very well or very far, you won’t try as hard. On the other hand, a high perception will increase your effort, persistence, and performance. After reaching certain goals, however, those low perceptions can improve, along with performance. A positive and realistic perception leads to a positive performance.