Where Champions Are Made

In a couple of weeks, we’ll again have the chance to marvel as gifted athletes from around the globe compete in the Winter Olympics in South Korea. Skiers will race down slopes at breakneck (hopefully not) speeds; figure skaters will glide across the rink with their collection of lutzes, axels, spins, and maybe a camel or two.

Ski jumpers will soar through frigid skies, straining for the bottom-most patches of icy snow lying many meters below. And speed skaters will chase around a frozen oval, even though a diagonal path would have been much faster.

Already, favorites for each event have been identified. But as happens every Olympics, some of those favored will falter. Unexpected champions will emerge, happily embracing their moment in the sun – or snow, or ice – new “household names” being awarded medals of gold, silver and bronze.

In a real sense, those champions have already been determined in the months and years leading up to this Olympics. I was reminded of this while visiting the YMCA recently for a workout. Someone wore a T-shirt that said, “Champions are made when no one is looking.”

We find everyday examples in the middle-aged guy who’s finally decided to shed excess, health-threatening pounds; the gal prepping for her first half-marathon, the person determined to become the fittest person at the office, or the elderly individual rehabbing from a physical setback.

The same applies whether it’s the area golf champion or the winner of the Masters; winners at the local tennis club or Wimbledon; spelling bee champs; skilled surgeons; inspiring high school teachers, and accomplished business leaders. We can witness and appreciate the end results and yet have no idea of the work, sweat and determination it took for them to achieve their objectives.

What about becoming a spiritual “champion”?

Similarly, men and women become champions for Jesus Christ when no one was looking. Rarely – even in our churches – does anyone focus attention on the person spending time daily communing with God in the Scriptures and in prayer. Strong, enduring faith isn’t gained by attending a stirring worship service or a spiritual conference, but in the bunkers of pain and struggle, where we have no alternative but to persevere, trusting God and His promises.

Virtually every effective Christian leader, whether speaking from the pulpit, facilitating a Sunday school class, or heading up a faith-based company, has been aided in his or her growth by disciplers, mentors and accountability partners, interactions usually unseen by those who benefit from their direction.

The apostle Paul admonished his protégé, Timothy, to “be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). How could Timothy do this? Initially, he learned from Paul. Then he persisted in applying those lessons in quiet, personal hours. Knowing – and using – the Word of God correctly comes only with time, attention and prayer.

Abraham, from whom the people of Israel trace their lineage, went through the refining furnace of faith in many ways, so that when God gave him the curious command to sacrifice his promised son, Isaac, he did not waver: “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son” (Hebrews 11:17). When no one was looking, Abraham’s faith was being established so he could trust the Lord would somehow resolve this dilemma in a redemptive way. As He did.

Looking back over my life, the times I’ve learned most and grown have not been easy, smooth-sailing moments, even though they’re preferable to times of intense challenge. It’s been circumstances when there was nothing else I could do but to look up, believing in God’s faithfulness even when the limits of credibility were being stretched, that have advanced my spiritual maturity.

As James 1:12 says, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.”

This is what God calls each of us to do. So that one day we’ll agree with Paul, who wrote, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). In God’s eyes, we’ll be “champions” He has fashioned when no one was looking.

Startling Cases in Contrast

Recently South Korea – aka the Republic of Korea – was awarded the XXIII Olympics Winter Games in 2018. For many of us, that’s no big deal. But have you any idea how miraculous that achievement is?

The South Koreans prevailed over proposals from Germany and France, no small feat for a land that in the 1950s wallowed in abject poverty, as poor as any Third World nation today. In years when “made in Japan” was a joke, “made in South Korea” was unthinkable.

When North and South Korea were divided by the 38^th Parallel, the atheistic, Communist neighbor to the north actually had an advantage in natural resources. For South Korea, which became sanctuary for about seven million Christian refugees from North Korea, farming was its sole industry. Natural resources were scarce, as were formal education and modern technology. There was no semblance of entrepreneurship.

What changed for the now prospering land of nearly 49 million people, ranked among the world’s top 15 economic powers?

Among many factors, one crucial decision stands out: the resolve to pray. In the ‘50s, then-President Syngman Rhee enlisted Christian leaders to pray fervently for South Korea. Many thousands of citizens rose in pre-dawn hours to call out to God, seeking His mercy and blessing.

To this day, South Koreans visitors are amazed to learn of multitudes that awaken long before sunrise, convening in large sports arenas, churches and other locations, shouting and crying out to the Lord.

South Korea has its flaws. Prosperity has brought corruption; not a surprise. (“The love of money is a root of many kinds of evil” – 1 Timothy 6:10.) Other common drawbacks of materialism have followed. But the nation now has an estimated 50,000 Protestant congregations, including the largest church in the world with more than 1 million members.

Contrast what has happened in South Korea to North Korea, labeled by some “a repressive nightmare,” its economy in disarray. Compare South Korea also with the United States, where a vocal minority actively condemns mottos such as “In God We Trust” on currency and license tags, and “one nation under God” is assailed as violating separation of church and state.

In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God declares, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Later God warns of dire consequences, “if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you…” (2 Chronicles 7:19-20).

South Korea has reaped benefits of becoming humble and praying and seeking God. Our own nation, I fear, is well on its way to experiencing the downside of turning away and forsaking Him.