Don't Be Disqualified

Drawing from 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 and 2 Timothy 4:6-8, Tom Shrader calls believers to the kind of purposeful self-discipline that keeps them useful to God and undistracted by both sin and the merely good things of life. Paul's athletic imagery — running with aim, buffeting the body, avoiding disqualification — frames a sobering warning that a lack of self-control can destroy a ministry and waste a life. The imperishable crown of righteousness laid up in heaven is presented as the motivation that sustains faithful living all the way to the end.

“Our home is in heaven, and wherever that home is, is where my heart's going to be.”

— Tom Shrader

Series: Life Management

Recorded: 2001 at East Valley Bible Church

Duration: 33 min

Themes: self-discipline, finishing well, self-control, purpose, ministry, distraction, perseverance, crown of righteousness, struggling with temptation, losing focus in faith, minister or pastor, midlife drift, approaching end of life, young adult, new believer, feeling spiritually complacent

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:19-27, 1 Peter 1:3-5, 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 2 Timothy 2:4, Hebrews 12:1, Matthew 6:20

Theological Themes: sanctification, becoming holy, perseverance of the saints, Christian liberty, mortification of sin, eternal reward, spiritual discipline, eschatology

Full Transcript

Introduction: Paul's Principle of Restrained Liberty

Paul's writing in 1 Corinthians chapter 9 has been addressing the topic of liberty. His point has been this: though I may have great freedom, I will take that freedom and those rights and set them aside for the benefit of those who might be immature. Paul said that the driving force in his life is to not be a stumbling block to anyone. He said he is concerned that Christians would grow, and concerned that those who are not Christians might be saved, and in no way does he want his life to be an obstacle in that process.

So what Paul says is that he is submitting, he is yielding. Look at verse 19. He said, "Though I'm free from all men, I've made myself a slave to all men." Paul said what drives much of his thinking in this area of liberty is how it will affect other people. He sets himself, his rights, and his preferences aside.

Now if he is going to do that — if he is going to exercise this sort of restrained liberty — he is going to need self-control. There has to be something in his life that is a driving force greater than just the exercise of his rights or even his own pleasure. If he holds tightly to his rights and his liberty, he will inevitably affect those around him in a negative way and miss the opportunity to be used by God.

The Race and the Discipline of Self-Control

So in verse 24 of 1 Corinthians chapter 9, he says this: "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. And everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way as not without aim. I box in such a way as not beating the air. But I buffet my body and make it a slave, lest possibly after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified."

Paul uses the imagery of a race here — imagery that would be fresh and clear in the minds of the people in Corinth. In ancient Greece there were two of the most famous athletic events, one held in Athens and the other in Corinth. So they were thoroughly familiar with this picture. Paul had already spoken last week about a soldier and a farmer; now he turns to an athlete in a race. He said everybody in this race runs, but only one wins.

It is interesting that this stands in opposition to the Christian life. We do not run a race against each other. We run a race against our own weaknesses, against the challenges of life, the obstacles, the temptations, and the trials. But Paul says to you and me: run in such a way that you may win. And then he tells us something that is a key part of winning — it seems unlikely that you are going to win if you do not first discipline yourself. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things.

In those games at Corinth, when an athlete went to participate, he had to sign an oath stating that for the prior ten months he had followed a regimen of diet and exercise in preparation for the games, so that he was thoroughly prepared. He had disciplined himself. Paul uses that imagery and says: they compete, they strive, they control themselves — and here is a word — they sacrifice. He is not putting that down. He is simply putting it in perspective.

Perishable Wreath vs. Imperishable Reward

The perspective is this: they do it to get a perishable wreath. On the other hand, we strive and discipline ourselves to get an imperishable reward. Consider what this perishable wreath actually meant. The champion declared at the end of an event received three things: a lifetime tax exemption, a guarantee that his children could not be drafted into the army, and he was immortalized — a hero. Yet Paul says that even when they were immortalized by man, it was perishable. There is probably not one person in this room — likely not one person in the world — who could name a single man who won a single event in the games at Corinth. They were heroes, but Paul said it was temporary. It did not look that way at the time, but it was.

We, however, strive for that which is imperishable. 1 Peter 1, verses 3 through 5 says: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to the living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away. It is reserved for you in heaven, you who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed at the last times." We strive, we discipline ourselves, we live in a way to please God and to be useful to Him, to bring pleasure and joy to Him, to glorify and honor Him, and to fulfill the call He has placed on our lives.

Running with Purpose

Paul does not minimize the importance of the earthly games. He says they are important and they have their role. But they are insignificant compared to the things that transcend the temporal and are eternal. And when Paul looks at this truth, he draws a conclusion — that is what the first word of verse 26 means: "therefore." Because this is true, consequently, "I run in such a way as not without aim." He has an aim. He has a goal. He has a target. "I box in such a way as not beating the air." He is not merely shadow boxing. There is purposefulness in his training.

Finishing the Race Well

In the context of 1 Corinthians 9, Paul's overarching goal is to glorify God, but something else is clearly important to him as well. In verse 19 he says, "For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all men, that I might win more." He goes on to describe how he does that: "To the Jews I became a Jew, that I might win the Jew — that is, to those under the law as under the law, though not being myself under the law, that I might win those who are under the law." He continues, "To those who are without the law, I lived as without the law, though not being without the law of God, but under the law of Christ, that I may win those that are without the law." And in verse 22 he states the overarching principle: "To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some."

Paul is saying that he disciplines himself and that there is a purposefulness to his life. At the core of that purposefulness is a desire for God to use him to touch people's lives. Paul has a passion for two types of people — and it so happens that those two types cover everyone in the world. Those who do not know Christ and desperately need a message of salvation, and those who already know Christ and need to grow in their knowledge of Him. Paul says that is his passion, and he does not want anything to distract him from it.

The Battle for Self-Discipline

Because of that passion, Paul says he buffets his body. That word "buffet" means to hit under the eye. Paul is describing a real, ongoing battle, and in a figurative sense he says he knocks himself out. He buffets his body and makes it a slave, "lest possibly that after I've preached, I should be disqualified." Most people, including Christians, find themselves enslaved to their bodies rather than the other way around. Our bodies drive when we eat, how much we eat, what we eat, when we sleep, and when we get up — not our minds, not our discipline. Paul is saying we have to get control of this.

This is true in everyday life. Susan left on Thursday to visit her mother — she does this about twice a year, just so the point is made about how much she does when she is here. Thursday night, with no reason to go back out, dinner was pretzels. Friday night was a slight upgrade: Ben and Jerry's and sun chips. The body won that battle. But while eating the Ben and Jerry's and reading the label, it said 32 grams of sugar — which seemed reasonable, until looking more closely and realizing that was per serving, and the carton contained four servings. That comes to 128 grams of sugar. That is exactly Paul's point. Most of us do that. In the area of food, exercise, and all the other areas of life, these things have to be brought under control.

The Fear of Being Disqualified

So what is the driving force behind this kind of discipline? Paul has a fear, and it is one worth sharing — for one's own life, for a church's staff and leaders, and ultimately for every believer. Paul says he does not want to be disqualified. He is not talking about losing his salvation; he knows that is secure. He is talking about some action or pattern in his life that would make his ministry impossible to continue — something that would cause him to lose his opportunity to be used by God, or even to fulfill the call of God on his life.

A friend from Southern California shared a story over dinner that brought this reality home. He is involved in a large church, one many would recognize. He described something awful that had happened: the church's head of worship and praise had been arrested for exposing himself in a park. The friend had to gather the entire praise team and read a letter addressing what had happened. He said he literally trembled and shook as he read it. Essentially, this man's life now lies in ruins. People are trying to come alongside and help him, but everything he had given his life to is gone.

Hearing that story, this passage came immediately to mind. The humiliation before other people would be devastating. The conversations with a wife, with children, with a congregation would be awful beyond words. But most unimaginable of all would be standing before the Lord. Paul said that prospect petrifies him. And probably because it was such a deep concern for him, it became a powerful deterrent. So how did Paul end his life?

Paul's Finish Line

To find the answer, move from 1 Corinthians through 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, then slow down at 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy. Second Timothy chapter 4 represents the end of Paul's life — he recognized it as such himself. In verses 6, 7, and 8 he writes: "I am already being poured out as a drink offering."

That image comes from the Old Testament sacrificial system, which had three parts. First was the burnt offering — the prescribed animal for the sacrifice. Second was the grain offering. Third was the drink offering, the pouring of the wine on the altar.

The Meaning of Departure

That signified the end of the sacrifice. He said, "I'm being poured out now." The word *time* there is the Greek word that doesn't mean chronological time. He's not saying it's 8:30. He's saying the epoch or the season. The season for my departure has come. We get that from the rest of the text. When you look down at verse 9, he says, "Make every effort to come quickly." He understands that he is going to die, that that time is near. Yet he doesn't believe it's going to be tomorrow or the next day, but he knows it's there.

He said, "The time for my departure has come." That word *departure* has four meanings in the Greek. One is an unyoking of an animal from the shaft of a cart or a plow. All four of these apply to Paul at this point. Paul is saying, "The time for my departure has come. I'm now unyoked. The burden of my labor and my earthly purpose is now fulfilled. I'm done."

The second meaning is the loosening of bonds. He said, "I've been liberated. I'm released. I'm freed." Remember, we looked at it before — freed from what he calls his momentary light affliction: the beatings, the prison, the stoning. He said, "The ropes are loosened on this tent." That is obviously a familiar picture to him. Paul is saying, "I have loaded, set up, and unloaded a tent over and over again."

The third meaning is the loosing of the mooring ropes of a ship. Paul said he sailed many times, leaving a safe harbor and going into the deep and open waters. Paul said, "That's what this is about." The time for my departure has come. The burden of the work is over. There is now rest. My task is completed. The journey I am now embarking on is the very last journey, and its destination is heaven.

The Assessment of a Life Well Lived

Now Paul gives you and me the assessment of his life. He looks at his life and says, "Here is my conclusion. I fought the good fight. I finished the course. I have kept the faith." I love 2 Timothy. I love that book, and I think the reason is simple. It is Paul at the end of his life. And when you're at the end of your life, all the hypocrisy is gone.

You have a good friend, and you're talking to him. What you talk about is all the surface stuff — when does school start, are bell bottoms really back in style, what is your water bill, SRP or APS. That is about the depth of the conversation. But all of a sudden, one day, that person comes back from the doctor and has been diagnosed with a serious disease. I'm not talking about measles or mumps. I'm talking about a serious disease. All of a sudden, the conversation is not about water bills anymore. It takes on a new depth.

And if the diagnosis is, "There is nothing we can do. You have months," there is a whole new depth to that conversation. At that moment, what is revealed in the heart of that conversation is what is revealed in the heart of the person. I love the final words of life and the final chapters. If somebody has a three-volume biography, I always read volume three. I care about volumes one and two very much, but it's volume three that tells you everything.

I used to say — and it's a quote you've heard many times — "No man on his deathbed ever said, 'I wish I had spent more time at the office.'" I used that quote one time in Tucson, and somebody sent me a correction. Albert Einstein's last words to his son were, "If only I had more mathematics." Composer Ravel's final words were, "I still had so much music to write." James Eads, the American inventor, said, "I cannot die. I have not finished my work." Charles Darwin said on his deathbed, "I am only sorry that I haven't the strength to go on with my research." So I have had to modify the saying to: only a fool would say on his deathbed, "I wish I had spent more time at the office."

What the Giants Said at the End

Here are three giants. Listen to their last words. Napoleon said, "I die before my time, and my body will be given back to the earth to become the food of worms. Such is the fate which soon awaits the great Napoleon." Gandhi, at the end of his life, said this: "My days are numbered. I am not likely to live very long, perhaps a year, maybe a little more. For the first time in fifty years, I find myself despondent. All about me is darkness. I am praying for light." The French statesman Talleyrand said, "Behold, eighty-three years passed away. What cares, what agitation, what anxieties, what ill will, what sad complications — and all without results, except great fatigue of mind and body, and a profound sense of discouragement with regard to the future."

These are people we stop and take notice of — Napoleon, Gandhi, Talleyrand, Einstein. We look at them and say, "These are the giants." And at the end of their lives they say it wasn't worth it. Not much there. They don't understand the future. Now look at what the Apostle says. There is no discouragement here. There is no resentment here. There is no fear here.

Fighting the Good Fight

"I have fought the good fight." One author writes this: "The faithful Christian constantly battles his own flesh, his own sin, his own ignorance and laziness. He even has to battle the temptation to do things that are perfectly good in themselves in place of other things which are immeasurably more important. Every day there are new fronts on which the struggle continues."

Paul said, "I fought this fight. I was engaged in this fight." The Greek word used here for *fight* is the word from which we get the English word *agony* or *agonizing*. I was engaged in hand-to-hand combat, and I won. I fought that fight, and I fought it well. A little earlier in the letter he says this: "No soldier in active duty entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him."

The Encumbrances That Entangle Us

In Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1, the author says this: "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us." The author separates the two. We have the sin part figured out — obviously we want to avoid that — but he is also talking about the things that entangle us. These encumbrances may be harmless, even good things.

I had a guy a while ago and I said, "Have you read any good books lately?" He said, "Not any." I said, "You don't read anymore? You quit reading?" He said, "Tom, there are so many great books I don't have time to read good books anymore." A little arrogant, but you get the point. You have the same thing in your life. There are so many good things to do, but they have to give way to the great things. You cannot be entangled in the affairs of everyday life.

Fighting the Good Fight to the End

This is what you want to hear at the end. I don't know if you ever think about your funeral, but I do — all the time. I think about how I'm going to die and I think about the funeral. It will be in a building like this, and they are going to say, "All right, who wants to say something?" As people talk, I hope the theme is this: obviously not a perfect guy, but a man who fought the fight, finished the course, and kept the faith. He completed it. He fulfilled it. He watched over the truth that was given to him, preserved it, and handled it well.

I have to believe that every Christian in their heart has a desire for that to be their epitaph — some version of that. That is what you want to hear said about you at the end. But it seems to me this is an extraordinary struggle. How do I stay disentangled from the things of this world, even the good things of this world? How do I get to a point where at the end of my life they say he fought the good fight, he finished the course, he kept the faith? I don't have enough discipline for that on my own. I need a motivation.

The Crown of Righteousness

That is why Paul gives you that motivation right there. He says, "Laid up for me in the future is the crown of righteousness." He is not talking about a personal reward for what he has done on his own. He is talking about the crown of righteousness that the Lord will give him — and not only to him, but to every one of us. We as Christians, at the end of our lives, receive a crown of righteousness. It is that imperishable moment of reward where we are now with Christ forever. Somehow this thought has to get into our minds.

Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount says this: "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust nor thieves break in or steal." The implication is to lay up your treasures in heaven where they are safe and secure, guarded, protected, and do not fade away — rather than here in the temporal, where they can be eaten, rust away, or be taken from you.

Investing in a Guaranteed Loser

Consider this. If I came to you and said, "I have an investment opportunity for you," and you said you had money to invest, here is what I would offer: a company that is eleven months old, has never sold a product, and there is absolutely no indication it will ever sell a product, let alone make any money, let alone survive. It is a loser with no chance of going anywhere. All we want is enough investment to carry us one more month so we can celebrate our one-year anniversary — and there is no way you will ever see a dime of your money back. Would you be interested in investing in something like that? The obvious answer is no.

What Jesus is saying is that every time I invest in the things of this world, I am investing in a stock that is a guaranteed loser. There is no return here. This is all temporal, all fading away. You are throwing your time, your energy, your effort, and your money away with no eternal return. There might be a momentary sense of enjoyment — the equivalent of sitting in the leather chair of that failed business and feeling like a CEO for a moment — but it is going nowhere.

The Motivation That Carries Us Through

I think these things are connected for a reason, and I get three things out of them. First, I need to understand that my life is finite. I may not think I am going to die in the next few months as the apostle did, but I know I am going to die in the next few decades — that is certain. When I understand my life is temporal, I begin to think about the end of it, and at the end of it I want to hear: he fought the good fight, he finished the course, he kept the faith.

And yet this world is going to crowd in around me and want to draw out from me all the things that make this life worthwhile. So here is what Paul says: remember that you are laying up a treasure in heaven. That becomes the motivation. That becomes the thing that moves me through life without getting distracted — the knowledge that I have a crown of righteousness safely stored away, carefully guarded, entrusted to God, that cannot be eaten, rusted, or stolen away. That is your life. That is your future.

Living With the End in Mind

This is a continuing theme in my teaching, and I think it is because it is a continuing theme in my life. When I look at the end of my life, my mind is going to want to look back and see a fight that was good, a course that was finished, and a faith that was kept. The only way that is going to happen is if I consciously and proactively determine now that this is how I am going to live. Otherwise it will not happen, because it will not happen naturally. Your natural inclination is to get distracted.

Investing Your Time in the Eternal

You are an investor — of time, energy, effort, and money. Consider time alone: you have 168 hours. Before you come back here for the 11 o'clock service next week, you will have invested 168 hours, and every person in this room will invest those 168 hours in either the temporal or the eternal. Here is a helpful tip: I can give the temporal meaning if I use it for the eternal. If I see school, for example, as a platform by which I can live a Christian life in front of men and women — so that they see it and want to know about my Savior — then I have redeemed that time, as Paul says. The same principle applies at work, and in everything else.

We Are in a Race

I want to look at that passage, those few verses, to remind ourselves yet one more time that we are in a race. In one sense, as Christians, we have already won — our crown of righteousness is secure. Yet there is so much more to it than that. There is a life we can live that brings honor and glory to God, that pleases Him, that brings joy to Him, and that is used by Him.

When is the last time God used you — to touch someone who was lost, to comfort somebody who was hurting, or to encourage somebody who was discouraged? When He uses you, there is something uniquely valuable about it. When God uses you to save someone, it is like the Lay's potato chip deal: you cannot eat just one. When God works in your life in a significant way, you will want it again and again, because that is what you were designed for.

This Earth Is Not Our Home

You were not designed to be citizens here on earth. Think about someone living in an apartment on a six-month lease, about to move out. Have you noticed how bare those places are? Maybe one picture on the wall, some torn carpet that nobody bothers to fix, because it is a rental — it is not home. But take that same person and put them in a house they now own, and suddenly those walls have color, there is wallpaper, maybe a wall has been moved, with major renovations underway — because this is home, this is where they are going to stay.

Here is what Paul says to us: this earth, we are all just passing through it. This is not home. All the improvements you make here are going to stay here when you go. Our home is in heaven, and wherever home is, that is where the heart will be. So my natural inclination ought to be to invest in the things of God rather than the things of this world.

The Call to a Disentangled Life

I want to hear at the end of my life that I fought the good fight, finished the course, and kept the faith. The only way I will do that is if I live a disentangled life — free from sin, but also free from merely good things, so that I can pursue the great things. You will have to make that judgment in your own life and figure out what it means and how it looks. But that is God's call on your life.

Paul gives us some helpful illustrations from the Old Testament in chapter 10, and we will take a look at those next week. Let us pray together.

Father, thank You for this time. We pray that what we say and what we do here brings honor and glory to You. God, will You challenge us to look at our lives from Your perspective, to see our lives in an eternal way? God, that is our prayer. Do that for us, we ask and we beg, in Jesus' name. Amen.