How to Share Your Faith Using the Olympics
From the audacious feats of the Flying Tomato on the halfpipe, to the grace and elegance of the figure skaters, midway through sixteen days of Olympic coverage you might feel like you've already seen it all! What an astounding range of personalities and skills these athletes have displayed!
Some Olympic athletes have achieved their lifelong dreams and captured that medal, while others have seen their hopes crumble and their dreams come crashing down. But regardless of how they placed in their event, all the Olympic athletes are winners, simply because they made it on to the team and gave it their 110%.
Have you ever considered how different the athlete who trains to compete in curling is from the snowboarder, figure skater, or bobsledder? Winter Olympics sports showcase the huge range of diversity God has given these athletes. While they are all members of the one Olympic Team that represents their country, how their athletic ability and disciplined skill exhibits itself in their particular event is as varied as the colors of the rainbow. Snowboarding requires boldness and daring, while curling emphasizes strategy. Hockey involves teamwork, while the singles figure skater faces the pressure alone.
In the same way, Christians are all members of the one team-the church of believers, but our range of natural abilities, spiritual gifting and developed skills provide a rich diversity. Whether you have a passion for helping the outsider feel welcome or prefer to dialogue with the unreached about the foundational beliefs of the Christian faith, you are part of God's team. Discovering your own style and which 'event' you excel at will help you become more effective in sharing your faith with those who need to know God. To read more, check out 1 Corinthians 12.
God values our uniqueness , which is why He didn't create his children using a cookie cutter. He respects our individuality, which is why He didn't lead us all down the same road of life If your journey through life has left you with lots of emotional baggage, God can use you to reach out to others who are hurting. If you've struggled with giants-like cutting or depression, for example, God can redeem the pain in your past and use it to pour his compassion into the lives of others. If your gifts and natural inclinations have molded you into a brainiac with an interested in apologetics, God can use you to explain his Good News in greater depth to others in a coherent and compelling way. If you're friendly and outgoing, God's welcoming love can overflow through you.
As you get a chance to talk about the Olympics with your friends, explore the uniqueness and diversity of how God has wired us humans and how differently our paths through life unfold. Here are some ideas to get the conversation moving:
- If you could be a world-class athlete, which event would you choose to compete in? Why?
- How has God wired you? Are you more of a methodical strategists or a bold and daring risk-taker? Take the opportunity to share how God loves each of us as unique individuals.
- Are you a private person or open and transparent? Would it be hard for you to have your defeats and glories displayed on international TV? Where do you run when you face defeat? Share how God carries you through your disappointments. Where do you give the credit when you meet with success? Should God get the glory for the abilities and opportunities he has given you?
Sacrifice, discipline, determination, skill, strategy, commitment, perseverance-all these words come to mind when we think of the Olympic athletes that represent their nation in the Winter Games. These are also words that should describe our lives as we represent God in our world and seek to follow Jesus' command to go and make disciples of all nations. Take a look at yourself. Consider how God has wired you. Then go and do it with all the passion and excellence of an Olympian!!
