Olympics and More Olympics

This week, like most of you, I have continued my nightly ritual of watching the Olympics before bed time. Last week I watched a lot of swimming. This week’s it’s been gymnastics. In both weeks, I’ve gotten a little less sleep than normal.

In the swimming competition, it was easy to determine the winner. There’s a pool. There are swimmers. The first swimmer to touch the wall after swimming one or two or four laps wins. Pretty simple. And as we saw, Michael Phelps (from the University of Michigan, by the way) was the first to touch the wall in all of his races—once by merely .01 of a second. Wow!

But gymnastics is not like that. Gymnastics is much more complicated-- judges decide the winner. Judges that can be subjective and political and down right dumb. (I have had some conversations where I have made the case that if a judge decides the winner then it’s not really a sport. It’s a competition maybe. It’s an athletic endeavor, no doubt. But does that make it a sport? )

Of course, in the Gymnastics competitions we’ve all complained about the Chinese girls who “look like they are twelve but their government issued passport says they are sixteen so they must be sixteen” snafu. Not so in swimming. There’s a pool. There’s a swimmer. Who’s fastest? Period. (Well, actually “question mark”… but you know what I mean).

Not only that, when I was a kid a perfect 10 was the best score a gymnast could get. Remember Mary Lou Retton? She got a ten. She was the winner. Simple. But now, a “10” won’t get the pint sized, whirling dervish on a four inch beam even into the final round. A "perfect 10" in gymnastics is not so perfect any more. I remember that a pretty girl used to be called a “10.” It meant that she was incredibly gorgeous. Now when I see a pretty girl (read: Karla, of course!) do I have to say she's a 16.725? That just doesn’t have the same romantic zip.

All this is to say, I am ready for track and field or basketball or some of the other sports that are not going to be decided upon by a judge.

Of course, the Bible says that one Day, we will all stand before the Judge. On that Day, He will not be concerned on whether we could do a perfect jump or flip or pirouette. (And thankfully, He will not care if we can spell “pirouette” either, which-- just to let you know--took me a couple of tries before I was successful.) On that Day, Jesus said: But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.

34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.'

37 "Then these righteous ones will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?' 40 "And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'( Matt 25:31-40)

On that final Day, no “10’s” will be given out. No “16.725s” either. Unlike at the Olympics, when all is said and done, I won’t need a gold medal or a bouquet of roses. There need not be a podium and the National Anthem doesn’t need to play. On that Day, all I will want to hear is one thing: “Well done my good and faithful servant.” That’s it. If I hear those words from the Master, then I won’t care one bit if a gold medal is dangling around my neck. Besides, for those who hear the Master’s “well done,” in the place where they are going, gold is used like we use asphalt-- to pave the roads!

The Judge is paying attention. Are you living your life in a manner that will result in a “Well done!” from the King? Are you running to win the prize? In the end, it’s better to have gold under your feet than around your neck.