The Winter Olympics began this week and the feats of strength, skill, and stamina will be stunning. I love the Summer Olympics, but there is a factor present in nearly every event of the Winter games that keeps you riveted: danger. Winter sports are generally more dangerous than their sunny counterparts. Let’s take skiing aerials as an example. Skiers race down a slope onto a jump, twist and flip through the air, and land at full speed many meters away. The sight is breathtaking and the risk is real: at the 2014 Olympics, 49% of competitors in that event were injured. Nearly half! And these are athletes who know what they are doing!
Why do we love to watch our fellow countrymen dance with danger? What is so inspiring about those who face the ski jump or the bobsled run? The practical side of me cannot believe that civilized people would get excited over such stunts of potential folly. The other part of me is yelling, “Wow! Did you see that?”
The Bible does not have any sympathy for fools, but it gives us amazing examples of those willing to leap into danger for God’s sake. At the end of a chapter recounting the heroes of the faith, the writer of Hebrews concludes:
And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets — who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
Hebrews 11:32-36, ESV
These are the Olympians of our faith – men and women who faced the worst of this world with the hope that God would deliver them or would raise them to a better life. Sometimes dancing with danger is the only road left to us that honors God. We cannot control the circumstances that lead to the kinds of persecution described above. Paul did not travel around looking for angry mobs – he preferred a peaceful environment where the gospel could flourish (I Timothy 2:1-4) – but he was prepared to face them. How about us? Would we have the strength to face pressure without yielding? Would we face fire, sword, lions, and prison… or would we play it safe?
Imagine sitting at the top of the ski jump poised for a launch. You’re about to plunge down a ramp at 50 miles per hour. You suddenly realize that you’ve never practiced. Your skis are not waxed. Your goggle strap is loose. You heard about this event, but you were barely listening. You signed up because it sounded fun, but this? This is dangerous! You beg the officials to stop everything. I don’t know about you, but that’s not the kind of faith I want to show when my time of testing comes. Let’s strengthen our resolve. Let’s cling more firmly to God’s promises. If it comes to a dance with danger, let’s be ready to inspire the world with our displays of unrelenting trust. We’re in this for a glory that outshines every medal!