Why I Finished Last at the Maryville Marathon

As a reminder from last week’s column, I experienced an interesting journey a few weeks ago. I trained for and completed a full marathon. In “How I Finished Number One at the Maryville Marathon”, I outlined some of the pitfalls I ran into as I strove to complete this “race” (a term I use loosely to describe accepting defeat from the first step), and some general thoughts on the subject. Not to be outdone in the realm of odd “wisdom” on the subject, I have more to say. Keep the good (and glorify God), delete the bad (and blame me)…and here we go.
I finished last at the Maryville Marathon for a good reason. First I would be remiss if I didn’t lay out two counterfeit causes for my 7th place out of seven finish in my age/gender category. I didn’t finish last due to poor self-esteem. Our culture has raised to cult status the concept of self-esteem. Missionary Paul Washer refers to self-esteem thusly: “And to give you a thing about us being more feeble and not having the self esteem, our country and this world is overrun with this disgusting malady of self esteem. Our greatest problem is that we esteem self more than we esteem God.” Self-esteem, in our Post-Christian American culture, is in some ways a potential false backbone to an otherwise invertebrate existence. We carefully craft everything we say so as to not offend (unless you are a Christian or are Christ Himself). We stave off the wickedness of prayer in schools, we dumb down winning in sporting events, and we politically correctly filter everything we say or do to foster maximum self-esteem in ourselves and our kids. I certainly understand this mindset. I have been made fun of for being overweight off and on for years. In my early teen years I was asked by well meaning (?) girls “since I was so nice why couldn’t I have been cute like my brother?”. No one likes to feel bad. My point is that we have hyper-stressed the shielding of every poor soul to the pain of defeat/rejection to the point that we have created beings so utterly shocked at their failure that they walk away in bewilderment when Simon Cowell rightfully compares their singing to a mad cow disease-ridden bovine. We need to find the balance between self-esteem worship and preparation for reality. We spend so much time dwelling on ourselves and our felt needs that we value self over God and make decisions in life accordingly. Sure I am not thrilled about weight problems and the physical/cosmetic toll it has placed on my body. Nevertheless, my self-esteem didn’t cause me to finish 7th out of 7. (Read Romans 12:3; Phil. 2:3.)
Secondly, I didn’t finish last because I lacked faith. My believing me to be a runner does not make it so. Many a televangelist (I won’t mention specific names, but one whose name rhymes with Ole Josteen comes to mind), will tell you that if you have faith, you can bind God into a contractual whipping boy to do your sovereign will. Name it and claim it/ health and wealth “theology” makes us a “god” and, if we have enough faith we can do absolutely anything, including win marathons. If we fail, it is our fault as we don’t have “the favor” (i.e. enough faith). Justin Peters’ wonderful ministry is dedicated to a Biblical examination of this ilk (email me with questions). I do have absolute faith in Jesus Christ and the merit of His death, burial, and resurrection to take the punishment for my massive sin debt. I have repented of said sins and believe in Him solely thanks to His grace. I have faith, therefore, that amazingly I will have eternal life in Heaven when I die. I did not, however, have faith that I would win the marathon. I look at my stretch-marked carcass and compare it to the chiseled physiques of my adversaries, and I knew it would take a miracle for me to win. I also knew if God had granted me a miraculous win (one on par with the parting of the Red Sea), I would have became even more prideful and would have sinned. God spared me, and vicariously you, the stumble. (Read Eph 2:8-10.)
To conclude, the reason I lost the race is simple: I run like a drooling tiger-marked, geriatric challenged wildebeest. I am not gifted in running. Hurting my foot didn’t cause me to lose. I knew these realities from the start. I wanted to teach my kids perseverance in the race as well as the value of hard work, but I had no delusions of grandeur. My only hope (nearly realized) was a massive monsoon/whirlwind to sweep away my competition to a safe location at, say, Taco Bell. In the end, without a meteorological event, I finished last…but was blessed in the process. Thank you both Filthy Rags readers/dogandponyradio.com listeners for praying for me! I may run in the Bass Pro race in November, but, if so, it will be a much shorter 10k for a nice souvenir t-shirt and another opportunity to share Christ with people. God Bless and Keep them Doggies Rollin’!