Cheating is a shortcut – to losing

Normally this spot has something to do with the previous Sunday’s sermon, but not this time.  I read an article today which astounded me, and I imagine it will you, too. 

The article says that about 11,000 out of 30,000 runners in a marathon held in Mexico City were disqualified for cheating.  Their cheating was taking shortcuts, using transportation instead of running the race, and thereby missing checkpoints. 

I was floored!  I mean, this isn’t a 100-yard dash, but a 26.2 mile long race which requires a heavy dose of training.  And usually there is an entrance fee to participate (and for some events there are qualifying races).  All that work and effort, time and sweat, pain and agony, to then cheat, to skip a portion of the race, -and for what?  Sure, there are prizes and accolades, but how could you cheat and think you would achieve any of those?  How did they think they wouldn’t be caught?  And if it was only so you had bragging rights around the water cooler at work, you paid a high price.

There is something to the fact that 11,000 people were disqualified; I imagine as some runners saw others cheating, they thought, “why not,” and did the same.  There is a lesson here that following the crowd or the example of someone you know is doing something wrong doesn’t make it right.  It just means there are two of you in the wrong, and in the case of this race, disqualified.

In the Christian life we are called to run the race with endurance (Hebrews 12:1-2). In order to run we are told to lay aside any weight that will slow us down, and any weight that will trip us up.  There are no shortcuts in running the race as a believer.  And while the Mexico City race had checkpoints every five kilometers to catch those runners, in the race of the believer in following Christ, we know that the Holy Spirit resides in each believer and knows exactly where you are, who you are, and what you are doing every step of the way.  As I read this article, I thought back to what my dad told me over and over: “If it is worth doing, it is worth doing right.”  May we each run the race rightly, not looking for or following the example of others who think there are benefits to cheating. 

Pressing On,

Ron Tipton, Senior Pastor