Humor aside, the Olympics remind us of who we are as people. We have a natural capacity for what I call glory-seeking. In other words, something innate in the human heart makes us hunger for greatness. Among other motivations, this is why both male and female athletes devote decades of their lives toward a shot at performing and thriving in the Olympic Games. They want to write their names on the wall of athletic immortality. In a word, they want glory.
But, this capacity for glory-seeking goes awry for all of us. No one naturally seeks to glorify God. Even when using our bodies and abilities toward positive ends, we do not honor Him as we should (Romans 1:21). We are all sinners. We honor ourselves through all that God gives us instead of glorifying Him. Yet, here is a remarkable truth: God doesn't wipe out our glory-seeking instincts when we become Christians. Instead of destroying our capacity for glory, He redeems it! This change has explosive effects.
Where Christians once labored for lesser causes, all of life is transformed, drawing us to pursue God's majesty. Whether we eat or drink, mow the lawn, or run the 100-meter dash, we do all to praise and honor our Creator and Savior (1 Cor. 10:31). In Christ, this is true of the shining elite athlete and the most anonymous suburban mom.
As the famous phrase coram deo captures, every believer lives "unto God." A camera crew will not likely follow most of us around as we craft spreadsheets, shuttle kids to their twenty-six different extracurricular engagements each week, or talk through the rough spots in our marriages. The Christian life doesn't always feel like it echoes into eternity—but it does. The lives that please God are those devoted to Him, whether we're globally famous or happily anonymous.
The Olympic Games are fun to watch. Yet they remind us that God created humanity for something more. While Christians celebrate athletic excellence (and distinctions of all kinds), they do so knowing that there is the One greater figure at hand: Jesus Christ. He is "the Alpha and the Omega;" He is the Lion and the Lamb; He is the One who died for us so we could live eternally in His splendor.
Athletes get praise now, but we will worship Jesus forever.
