Here’s a graduation address that I gave on October 21, 2012 to Liberian pastors receiving their Diploma in Theology from Nazarene Theological Institute.
————-
“Running Well” (1 Cor. 9:24-27)
Introduction
To the graduates of the NTI-Liberia class of 2012, families, friends, honored guests:
The Bible talks about the Christian life using several images. It speaks of birth and growth. At other times, it says we are buildings under construction. But the image that has always fired my imagination is running.
From one race to another
The Apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 9:24-27 (NIV) likewise draws lessons from sports. He encourages us:
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
Today, the day of your graduation from the Nazarene Theological Institute of Liberia, marks the end of a race. You have completed an academic race, a race that when you began you thought would be a 5k but it turned out to be much longer! You have crossed the finish line, and everyone here today pauses with you to reflect on your achievement. To you we say with sincerity and good cheer: WELL DONE!
Yet we are here today for another reason. We, your family, friends, colleagues, and members of the larger Liberian community, have gathered not only to congratulate you, but to cheer you on. For we know that while one race has finished, another race continues, and that is the race we are all running, the race of Christian faith. And for you, those called to full-time Christian ministry, there is the race of vocational service to Christ, his church, and the world.
In that race, you as graduates of NTI are pacesetters. You are leaders to whom not only the church but the nation looks for inspiration. To you, in both your relationship with Christ and in ministry, I say this afternoon: RUN WELL.
Let us look together in more detail at 1 Corinthians 9. Thankfully, not only does it say “run well” but it gives concrete advice on how to do so.
- Give the race your very best, together.
- Avoid disqualification.
- Remember the crown.
Give the race your very best, together.
Paul commands: “Run in such a way as to get the prize.” The Greek plural imperative indicates that Paul is not talking to one person, but to a group. He’s saying: “Run this race together.”
I was never an accomplished runner, but two years of high school cross-country taught me many things. My second year of running, we got a new coach. He didn’t just tell us to run; he strapped on his running shoes and led the way!
One day, he taught us what he called “Indian running.” All ten of us ran in single file. Each hundred meters or so, coach would yell “next runner!” The runner at the back of the line would have to speed up and pass all the others, taking his place at the front. Coach would refuse to let anyone else slow down so that the new runner could more easily get to the front of the line. Instead, he’d yell: “Come on, Crofford, you can do it!” And when I made it, he’d yell: “Good job!” Soon, we all understood and yelled out encouragement to each other, just like the coach had yelled out encouragement to us.
And so I ask our graduates: Are you running alone in ministry? If so, it’s time we did some Indian running. It’s time we encouraged each other.
John Wesley, our spiritual grandfather, understood this well. He grouped Methodists together in classes and bands. He knew that for us to give the race our best, we need each other. And so the movement that he and his brother, Charles, started eventually came to be called the Methodist connexion.
Graduates, turn to the graduate on your left. Say these words:
“Brother, I promise to stay connected.”
Now, turn to the graduate on your right. Say these words:
“Brother, I promise to stay connected.”
As a young pastor, I was brand new in ministry. I had so much to learn! Thankfully, I wasn’t alone. Once per month, I met the four other pastors on the zone and we ate lunch together. Those were times when we could share our victories and our struggles. What precious times those were!
Connection can even happen on the Internet. On FaceBook, a former student of mine invited me to join a closed ministry support group. One of the members posted this the other day: “Please pray for me. I’m struggling. This is a season of temptation for me.” Within 10 minutes, two other brothers in ministry had responded. “Here’s my phone number,” one of them wrote. “Call me, brother, and we can talk. I’m here to help you through your struggle.”
However you do it, don’t run alone. Give the race your very best, together.
Avoid disqualification
His name was Taoufik Makloufi. On August 6, 2012, at the London Olympic games, a race referee disqualified him during the first lap of the 800m race. What was his offense? Makloufi had already qualified for another event in which he was better, the 1500m, an event in which he was expected to win a medal. By not trying in the 800, event, Makloufi hoped to save his energy for the 1500m. The end result was that officials kicked him out of the Olympics and he never got to run his preferred event.
It’s a tragedy when someone is disqualified. Paul himself – though a great Apostle – guarded against this possibility. In verse 27, he says that he “beat his body” to “make it my slave.” Why did he do this? The verse continues: “…so that after I have preached to others, I myself might not be disqualified for the prize.”
A Chinese proverb says: “You can’t stop the birds from flying around your head but you can stop them from nesting in your hair.” There is not a person in this room who is exempt from weakness. The devil knows your weakness. The question is: Do you?
What is your plan of action when your day of temptation comes? And it will come. The saying is still true: “Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.”
Paul says to us today:
- Give the race your very best, together.
- Avoid disqualification.
Finally, he exhorts us:
Remember the crown.
Verse 25 of our text reminds us: “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”
Stephen Covey was best known for his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The second habit is this: “Begin with the end in mind.”
The Apostle Paul said the same thing: Remember the end; remember the objective. Remember the crown.
It seems like those who run shorter distances get more attention. We hear about Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, champion of the 100m and 200m distance. Many even know about Kenya’s David Rudisha, gold medalist in the 800m run in London. Fewer know the names of champion marathoners, names like Tiki Gelana, the female gold medal winner from Ethiopia.
Yet ministry in the church is more like a marathon than a 100m dash. To make it through this race, women and men of God, we have to remember the finish line. We have to remember the crown.
While running my 3rd Chicago marathon today, I started thinking about the psyche of the ‘casual’ marathon runner such as myself…1) Starting line: Ecstatic! 2) 13.1 miles: confident. 3) 16 miles: Worried – ‘Really, I have 10 more miles!’4) 20 miles: Self pity – ‘This is painfully horrible! Why did I sign up for this thing again!’and 5) 26.2 miles – Ecstatic! ‘I can’t believe I made it through!’
Best time yet. Looking forward to next year.
Though my nephew didn’t say anything about it, I also know that his wife, Erin, and his two young daughters were waiting for him at the finish line with a warm embrace. I know because Erin posted up a photo of Chris and the whole family after he had finished. Chris didn’t set any records, but he finished, and for him that day, his wife and daughters were his “crown.”
I suspect that there will be moments in your ministry – if you haven’t had them already – when you will have the same self-pity Chris did after 20 miles. After a sermon that you thought was excellent flops, when criticism from someone in the church stings, when you see your family on the edge of poverty and the devil mocks you by saying how stupid you are and how much richer you could be if only you’d do something else rather than pastor –
Like Chris at mile 20, you may think:
This is horrible! Why did I sign up for this again?
When that moment comes, as it surely will, I say to you this afternoon:
Keep running! Remember the finish line. Remember the crown.
You’ll probably never receive here on earth the recognition that you deserve. But Paul says: There is a different crown, a crown that lasts forever. Recognition in this life is fleeting; the reward of heaven is eternal.
CONCLUSION
And so graduates of the NTI-Liberia, you have come at last to the end of a race, an academic race, a Diploma in Theology. As Director of the NTI, I wish you my hearty congratulations for a job well-done. We honor you today on the occasion of this tremendous achievement. Yet if one race is over, other races continue. For each of us here today, there is the race of the Christian life, but for you, the graduates, there is the ongoing race of full-time ministry in service to Christ, his church, and your world. In that race, give it your very best, not alone, but together. In that race, at all costs, avoid disqualification, and in that race, remember the crown.
Gregory Crofford 