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Running For the Prize

by James Barringer  
2/07/2010 / Christian Living

Do you find yourself disliking a band, TV show, movie, or game that everyone else around you seems to adore? I feel that way about the Beatles, honestly. And I would wager that, upon reading the previous sentence, 90% of my readers began searching for the "Contact" button to email me with their disapproval, and the other 10% sat back in silent satisfaction that someone had been brave enough to say what they have always secretly believed.

I also feel that way about Oswald Chambers, who authored a very popular devotional titled "My Utmost For His Highest." The book was written in 1927, imported to the United States in 1935, and has been by all possible measures a classic since then. I read it recently and, to put it mildly, I was unimpressed. I think that Chambers makes a fatal flaw in his writing that all too many Christians make, a flaw which may unintentionally keep them from spiritual maturity.

Chambers loves to write about sin. I would estimate that 1/3 to 1/2 of the essays in "My Utmost" revolve around sin. In my opinion, being obsessed with sin is the quickest way to torpedo your walk with God.

Sin is a serious deal; I know this. It's the reason we all need salvation, and when we're preaching the gospel to people who don't know Christ, we're not preaching the gospel if we don't talk about sin. But when we are talking to Christians, and when we as Christians are thinking inside our own heads, the emphasis shifts - it must. When we were saved, Christ's blood washed over all our sins, "that we might become his righteousness" (2 Corinthians 5). Simply put, sin is not who we are any more. It's in our rear-view mirror.

This is not to say that we should not be concerned with it at all, but it is very much a mistake to try walking with God and having one eye on the rear-view mirror. The apostle Paul refers to Christianity as a race, telling us that we are running toward the prize (Philippians 3). What racer runs with his head over his shoulder, constantly looking back at the things that are behind him? That would be foolish, just as foolish as a Christian who talks constantly about the sin that is in his own rear-view mirror.

Certainly all Christians struggle with sin, and we should definitely be vigilant that we do not fall into it, but I don't think that equals giving it a primary place in the things we say or write. Talking about how not to sin is essentially talking about how not to crash a car. If you were writing a manual on how to drive a car, would you spend half or more of the book talking about how not to crash? You can't become a good driver by focusing on the negative, on the "not crashing." You have to focus on the affirmative, things like using your turn signal and maintaining a safe velocity and being considerate to other drivers and...well, you finish the list. What bothers you about other people behind the wheel? You can see that "not crashing" does not make a person a good driver.

Similarly, "not sinning" does not make a person a good Christian. The Pharisees of Jesus' day prided themselves on avoiding sin, yet Jesus didn't consider them righteous. There might have been nothing bad about them, but there was nothing good about them either - they were only halfway there. That's why Jesus said that the most important commandments had nothing to do with avoiding sin, avoiding the negative, but with pursuing the affirmative: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself." You will never, ever, ever in your life love God or love your neighbor if all you focus on is avoiding sins. You will never be a good driver if all you focus on is not crashing your car. You'll only be halfway there, and 50% is a failing grade.

I also want to observe that many people who are obsessed with sin are actually obsessed with other people's sin. If you ask them, "What's wrong with America today," they will give you a twenty-minute monologue. If you ask, "What is the biggest struggle in your life right now," they tend to go strangely silent. Many people have "pet sins" that they like talking about, usually highly visible things like drinking or gambling or homosexuality. This enables them to point to "those people" who do those things, making sin something that other people struggle with, rather than something that the speaker himself personally struggles with. If you're going to think about sin at all, at least make sure you're honestly examining yourself, rather than trying to use other people's sin as a bludgeon. Dealing with other people's sin is God's job, not yours.

What, then, should you do? I think the Bible speaks quite clearly to the idea that we're to pursue the positive and ignore sin. Don't even give it the time of day; don't give it power over you by speaking its name. Hebrews 12 urges, "Let us throw off everything and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Paul finishes the thought: "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I push on toward the prize." Leave that sin behind you and forget about it completely. Focus on the good. Focus on who you want to be, not on who you're trying not to be.

Later in Philippians, Paul writes, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." Focus on the good. In Galatians, Paul tells us what we should be obsessed with: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Those things are supposed to compose our personality. They're all affirmatives. You can't get to love simply by trying not to be hateful; they're a million miles apart. Lastly, of course, Jesus tells us, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself."

If your focus is on those things, you will never have to talk about sin, Satan, spiritual warfare, or anything like that at all. Your eyes will be upward, on His Highest - Chambers at least got that part of the book right. The author of Hebrews writes once more, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father." If our eyes are anywhere else, we're already halfway to stumbling. Let's keep those eyes on the prize where they belong.

Jim Barringer is a 38-year-old writer, musician, and teacher. More of his work can be found at facebook.com/jmbarringer. This work may be reprinted for any purpose so long as this bio and statement of copyright is included.

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