Finish the Race Well: The Lifelong Call of Christian Leadership

Paul was a runner. At least three times he mentions running as a metaphor in his letters of the New Testament. In 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 he writes:

Paul reminds us that a runner races to win, continually training, disciplining himself, and enduring great pain for victory. Then he states that we are engaged in a race much more important than that of an Olympian runner. We're in the race of life with eternal consequences, so we too need to train, discipline ourselves, and endure pain to win.

Paul practiced what he preached. Shortly before he was killed for his faith, he wrote in 2 Timothy 4:7, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." He tells us he finished the race, kept the faith, and was awaiting the prize the Lord had prepared for him. He lived what he had written decades earlier to the people in Corinth. He had finished the race well.

We have too few Christian leaders who finish well.

Einstein in his later years wrote to a longtime friend:

I wish more leaders would prepare throughout their lives to finish well. It would show as they aged. Unfortunately, some of the most painful people I've encountered in congregations are older retired pastors who are bitter and resentful. Paul tells us to train ourselves in the present to lead well and long. We are called to finish the race well. This means performing well now while also preparing to run the race for our entire lives so that in the end, we can say we finished well. In our culture, people tend to do one or the other, but these two foci need to be kept in tension. Some leaders are a flash in the pan, while others never develop the small disciplines early that should continue throughout their lives.

When running my first marathon, my coach and I trained daily. We ran various distances at different speeds, often in great pain. During the marathon, we crossed the half-marathon mark at a pace faster than any of my previous half-marathon times. I was so pumped I wanted to accelerate, but my coach cautioned me to pull back and reconsider at mile 20. I followed his advice and was so grateful! At mile 20, you see the race from an entirely different perspective. Your body screams to slow down or stop. Nevertheless, I maintained a good pace to the end, finishing just under my goal. I finished the race well.

The marathon is a powerful analogy for life. Life isn't a sprint; it's a marathon. I think mile 20 is about age 65. Proportionally, that would be like living to about 83 years, the current life expectancy for those who reach 65, according to actuaries. Obviously, the literal halfway point is the early 40s—midlife. This is the time to remain faithful to the small things and not compromise on what we know.

If we follow Jesus' teachings, I believe our last decade of leadership could be our most impactful. Three times (Matthew 21, Luke 16, and Luke 19), Jesus tells us as leaders that we are stewards of his gifts, and we need to be faithful in small things. If we're faithful with the little things, then and only then will he trust us with bigger responsibilities. If we're faithful in the first 20 miles of life's race by maintaining the disciplines (mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically, and socially), then he will trust us with something larger.

Too often, we want the bigger things before we've been faithful in the small things. It's like being at mile 13 and thinking we're ready to accelerate and set a record time.

*Einstein by Walter Isaacson