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For the Race Set before Us: Training and the Church

By Rick Allen Dunn

In John 17:21, Jesus prays for his followers all over the world: “May they be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be one in us, so the world may believe that you sent me.” One of the things that excites me most about the Lausanne Movement is that it is a reflection of God’s desire for unity among his followers around the world, the Church of Jesus Christ coming together to bring the whole gospel to the whole world. Here we will discuss the importance of training Christians to be authentic followers of Jesus as a pathway for the Church to accomplish its mission in the world.

Finding the Endurance and Training Analogy in Life
Over the past several years I have been training and competing in adventure races in and around southern California (USA). I have competed in a 250-mile relay in the Mohave Desert, obstacle course runs, half marathons, a 30k run, and the Los Angeles Marathon.

 
Training is important in athletic competition, and it is important
in our spiritual lives so that we will be able to not only finish
the race, but win the prize.

Most recently, I rode in my first road bike race, a 26-miler. This is a distance I have ridden many times, so I thought this was a good place to begin a new category of adventure. As the starting buzzer rang out, we began to follow a pace vehicle that led us out of the starting area and onto the course. For the first time in my life, I found myself riding in the famed “peloton” (the main field or group of cyclists in a race) that I had seen so many times watching the Tour de France.

The race was surreal. The peloton took on a life of its own, like an organism, moving in unison, communicating directions and warnings from the front for those laced into the middle. I remember thinking that I really could not see where we were going through the mass of bikes; I could only trust those intertwined with me. I remember thinking to myself, “If I make a mistake or someone else does, it could mean disaster for all of us.” I continued on, being pulled by the momentum and draft of the peloton.

About eight miles into the race we encountered our first hill. I began to fall to the back of the peloton. However, without much effort I caught up to my previous position. At the second hill, which was much steeper than the first, and I had the feeling of being unplugged as I fell behind and lost the peloton for good. It was as if there was nothing I could do to regain my position.

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Rick Allen Dunn is pastor of outreach ministries at Coast Hills Church in Aliso Viejo, California, USA. Previously, he served as Campus Crusade for Christ campus director at San Diego State University and as an area leader in small group ministry at Willowcreek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, USA.