Original: July 17, 2007
McMinnville
6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:6-8
“Winners never quit. Quitters never win.”
My eyes were upon paralyzed these words the first time I saw them on a small sign in the Laguna Middle School locker way back in seventh grade. I was only thirteen years old but have never forgotten that seemingly insignificant sign some PE teacher taped to the window of his office and has probably long since forgotten.
They have become a slogan for my life. My oldest son James is thirteen at the time of this entry and just ended his first season of baseball (July 17, 2007). Playing with mature eighth graders, James was dwarfed at over a foot shorter than several of them. His first five games were painful to watch as he struck out every time he came up to the plate, except on the rare occasions he was walked, or one of the two times he fouled a ball off prior to striking out.
I thought for sure that he would want to quit.
He didn’t.
Instead he begged me to help him improve.
We fabricated a backstop tarp, bought a batting tee, whiffle balls, obtained an old tire and rope, and began to practice. Everyday we worked on hitting the tire: hands, head, hips and the basic hitting moments. Then we would move on to throwing “toss ups” with whiffle balls. After that we would move to hitting the ball off the tee, all the time working on the perfect swing which included hips, eyes, hands and head. We went through this process of-tire, tee and tosses for several weeks without much success.
Soon, however, James improved and eventually hit a foul ball (prior to striking out of course). That foul ball was cause for great celebration and Blizzards for all at DQ! The next game he actually hit two foul balls before striking out-more celebration and more Blizzards!
On his third game it happened.
James hit a fair ball-twice! One was a legitimate base hit and the other hit in two RBI’s (Runs Batted In)! From there on he grew as a hitter moving from last in the batting order of 14 boys (Recreation league rules) to eleventh! At his awards banquet his coach called him, “the most improved player on our team!”
I was so proud of him. I was and still am so proud of his courage. More than that I am so proud of his stick-to-it-iveness! I know a lot of things about my son and one of them is that he is no quitter.
Quitters, sadly, seem to be the majority these days.
We quit our jobs, quit our families, quit our marriages, and quit our faith. Statistically, faith in Jesus for the majority of church going men has been reduced to a matter of church attendance, cognitive ascent, and very little more. This is true especially among the men. Very few seem serious about their faith.
A faith that is taking hold of eternity (1 Timothy 6:12) is assertive, proactive, and dynamic. Faith is a good thing. No, faith is more than a good thing, but good will have to do for the sake of this entry. In fact, Paul calls it the “good fight” in several places in Scripture that I have previously noted (1Timothy 1:8, 6:12, 2 Timothy 4:7).
I ponder at how many magnum Christian businessmen are little more than anonymous in their churches.
But a good thing is worth putting up a good fight over. Wouldn’t you agree?
In fact, nothing good comes out of a life unless we put a fighting effort into it. It is much easier to be a Christian pacifist than a fighter. A passive faith sits back hoping and (may I be as bold as to say) praying that somehow faith will just happen, but an assertive faith takes action and initiative. A passive faith prays for God to reveal His will but a dynamic faith understands that God has already told us to do fulfill his will through living out His Word.
A man cannot “finish the course” of life or say that he has “kept the faith” until he possesses a win or die attitude that resolves to “fight the good fight” to the dying end.
