TIMOTHY
BERREY
We understand this in athletics, but this same prin-
ciple also holds true in ministry and in the Christian
life. Part of enduring hardship means playing by the
rules. You will be tempted to bend the rules in order
to appear as a winner. Since the rulebook is the
Scripture, you must handle it accurately (2 Timothy
2:15): cut it straight, let the lines fall where they
may, and adjust your ministry to suit. Don’t
adjust the line of Scripture to fit your
ministry.
For example, you may be tempted
to adjust your gospel message so
that it is less offensive. Preach a
Gospel that gives people what they
want. However, Paul did exactly the
opposite (see 1 Corinthians 1:22–23).
He refused to preach a Gospel that gave
the Jews what they wanted (a sign) or the Greeks
what they sought after (wisdom). He understood
that when you cater to a culture’s idols, you end
up preaching a Gospel that strips the cross of its
saving power (1 Corinthians 1:17). After all, the point
of genuine preaching of the cross is to save you from
your culture’s idols. “For they themselves report
about us what kind of a reception we had with you,
and how you turned to God from idols to serve a
living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9).
Similarly, you may be tempted to tweak your teach-
ing so that it fits what your people want to hear.
After all, these are the kinds of teachers that people
will “accumulate for themselves” (2 Timothy 4:3).
Being a preacher of sound doctrine may mean you
minister to a smaller congregation. You could even
find yourself justifying a contemporizing ministry
shift: I will lose all opportunity to influence them if I
don’t cater to their wishes at least some of the time.
The Old Testament prophet Micah rebuked for-profit
prophets who preached “peace” when they had
something to bite on but declared “holy war” against
those who put “nothing in their mouths” (3:5).
If you want to win the prize, you must also exercise
“self-control in all things” (1 Corinthians 9:25). This is
yet another kind of rule keeping, a kind that may be
even more challenging because it involves personal
discipline. The Apostle Paul was so concerned that
he might disqualify himself that he disciplined his
body and made it his slave. “I discipline my body and
make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to
others, I myself will not be disqualified” (1 Cor-
inthians 9:27). For Paul, and for us as well,
this involves giving up personal rights
(9:3–15), restraining ourselves for the
sake of another man’s conscience
(10:28–29), and being sure that
above all else, we rightly represent
what God is like to others (10:31).
Ultimately, we are not running the
Christian race to win accolades from
others but to be crowned by God. Therefore,
we must play by His rules. As 2 Timothy 2:15 says,
“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God
as a workman who does not need to be ashamed,
accurately handling the word of truth.” God approves
workmen who cut straight His Word, letting the lines
fall where they fall and living accordingly.
You will not be a true winner unless you win in God’s
eyes. A fake win will leave you feeling much like Rosie
Ruiz did: “I had one minute to feel that I had won
the race and every moment after that has been a
nightmare.”1 Aim for God’s eternal, irrevocable “well
done”—play by His rules.
1 https://www.
bangordailynews.
com/2019/08/08/
sports/rosie-ruiz-66-
won-boston-mara-
thon-but-skipped-
most-of-race/
BY