Endurance Training
Introduction
When I was a student in elementary school, I was not good at sports. But there was one thing that I was good at and that was running. When you are the smallest kid in the class, you get good at running. But I need to be clear, I was only good at sprinting. I could put a lot of energy and speed into a very short race. Based on my speed, I was once put into a longer race at a match. I knew it wouldn’t go well and I was right. I came last and it wasn’t even close between me and the second last runner. I just didn’t have endurance.
That is not to say that I was doomed to lack endurance. As an adult, I decided to start running, this time not for speed but for distance. It was pretty sad at first. I was able to get about half a block before cramping up and having to switch to a walk. But I decided to be persistent. Slowly, I could run farther and farther. I didn’t enjoy it but I could see the improvement each day. Endurance was growing.
Physical activity is not the only area that we need to build endurance. It is just as important, if not more, to build spiritual endurance. The passage that we are looking at concludes with a warning to stand firm or to endure. What was true for them is also true for us.
Warnings to the Disciples
What is this passage about? Many people think it is about the end of the world. But it is not, at least not exactly. When we read it in context, it is actually about a historical event, one that has already taken place. We see right before this passage, the disciples admiring the Jerusalem temple. Its existence was a point of pride for the Jewish people. It was much more than a physical space to worship. We cannot compare it to modern church buildings. It was the place where God’s presence dwelt. It was the only place that sacrifices could be offered. It was the foundation for the Jewish religion.
Jesus makes a prediction that this temple will be destroyed. It had already been destroyed by the Babylonians centuries before. It had been rebuilt and it was hoped it would last forever. But Jesus announces that it will indeed be destroyed again. His prediction was accurate. Approximately forty years after Jesus spoke these words, the Romans destroyed the temple.
The warning that Jesus had for the disciples were more than about a destroyed a building. Jesus knew that his sacrifice on the cross would replace the sacrifice of the animals in the temple. The followers of Jesus would be able to continue to worship and the loss of the temple would not affect them the way it would other Jews.
However, the events surrounding the destruction would affect the Christians. It was not just the destruction of the temple, it was all of the other things that would go along with it. Jesus warns about false messiahs that would appear with claims of their own truth. There would be persecution by governing authorities. In some ways worse, there would be betrayals by friends and family. What Jesus described did indeed happen. The Jewish historian Josephus, gives us a detailed account of those years. He tells us about the self-proclaimed messiahs that appeared. He also provides disturbing details of what happened in Jerusalem before the temple was destroyed. The apostles Paul and Peter were executed by the Romans just a few years before the destruction of the temple.
Why did Jesus tell the disciples these things? Was this just to impress them with his predictive powers? Many of the people he was talking to would be there to experience what he was talking about. Not only did Jesus know the future, he also knew human nature. It was one thing for the disciples to be physically present with Jesus, hearing his words directly, observing his miracles. But what happens when Jesus returns to the Father? What happens when the pressure is turned up? What happens when the temple falls? What happens when the Romans begin to persecute Christians? What happens when they are in danger even from their friends and family? It was not going to be easy to remain faithful. Jesus is in effect giving them a forty year head start for them to begin their endurance training. They can’t wait for the Romans to tear down the temple before they get strong in their faith. They need to prepare for the hard times now.
Warnings for Us
What does this mean for us? We live in a completely different historical situation. Not only are we not in first century Judea, we don’t experience any of the same religious opposition. Is this just historical trivia?
I would say that this is extremely relevant for us right now. First of all, Jesus didn’t wait until things got really bad before warning his disciples. We can’t discount the warnings just because we feel fairly comfortable now.
Even now though, there is pressure for us to compromise in our faith. We have brothers and sisters around the world who are facing persecution. Church buildings are being torn down and Christians are being imprisoned. We are not experiencing that kind of persecution, but what pressure is there?
Our society is hostile to the message of Jesus. Have you ever wondered why in movies and TV shows, it is acceptable to use Jesus’ name as a swear word but it is considered offensive if Jesus is used in any positive way? That is a hint of the spirit of the age. Christianity is tolerated as existing but the pressure is there for us to keep our faith private and never allowing it to affect what we do in the real world. And this despite it being completely acceptable for other worldviews to help shape public policy. No one else has to keep their beliefs private.
But the danger is not just from without. There are plenty of things that can lead to Christians stumbling and not finishing well. Sometimes it is the church’s own fault. The message of health and wealth, that Christians will always prosper and never suffer and has shipwrecked many people’s faith. Both the Bible and reality tell us that we will suffer in this life. But if we go into our spiritual life assuming life will be easy, we will stumble when life gets hard.
Jesus’ warning for followers to stay strong is not just theoretical. I have seen people stumble in their faith. By this I don’t mean struggling with doubts and questions. I believe those are a healthy part of faith. What I’m talking about are those who are overcome by the pressure to give up and then walk away from Jesus. It happens.
A runner doesn’t start endurance training the day of the marathon. All of us have to prepare ourselves for the trials of tomorrow today. How do we do that? We need to have a solid theological foundation. We also have to work at the spiritual disciplines. We need to spend time with Christians who help us to grow. We need to pray and worship and spend quality time with God. But be warned, endurance training is never easy.
One of the things I’m concerned about is the common Christian way of discerning God’s will. Many believe that if something comes easy, it must be God’s will and if things are difficult, it must not be God’s will. That is not what we find in the Bible. Heroes of faith rarely experience smooth sailing. As they remain faithful, they hit obstacle after obstacle. Spiritually, we will experience the same pain as the person moving from being a couch potato to becoming a marathon runner.
Conclusion
When it comes to the life of faith, what matters is not how we feel in the moment but how we finish. We may be comfortable right now, but there is no reason to believe that will continue to be the case. We cannot wait until the hard times come before we start to get ready. Jesus gave the disciples forty years to prepare for the destruction of the temple and all of the suffering that would accompany it.
We need to begin our endurance training now if we haven’t already. Spiritual endurance training is as fun or as easy as sitting back and soaking up the blessings. But a person who practices running will do much better in the marathon than the person who practices eating donuts. What are we doing to build our spiritual endurance? What are we doing to make sure we finish well? The point is not demand perfection immediately, but it is to start doing something.
