May 1929
215
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Christian Self-Mastery B y D r . W. G raham S croggie (A Keswick Address )
“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." —1 Cor. 9:24-27. HESE verses are set in a lengthy passage, which treats of the limits of liberty, beginning in chap. 8, v. 1, and ending in chap. 11, v. 1; and here we learn that a Christian’s liberty finds a limit in his relation to others: that is the subject of the first part of the discourse; and then this liberty finds a limit in his relation to himself: that is the subject of the second part of the discourse, which begins with the 24th verse of this 9th chapter. This thought, worked out, teaches us that voluntary renunciation is necessary to progressive salvation. In the passage before us we have the apostle’s exhortation, but we have also his examination, and he here tells us of three things: First, here is an object to be attained; second, a means to be employed; third, an issue to be dreaded. There is an object to be attained. The apostle speaks of this as the “prize,” and the “incorruptible crown,” and in telling us how this prize, this crown, may be won, he uses two illustrations, one of racing and the other of box ing. The passage, therefore, involves the apostle’s con ception of the Christian life. It is a strenuous life. He frequently uses these figures, and they indicate exacting preparation, strenuous toil, persistent effort. .He does not go to nature and illustrate the Christian life by the growth of plants, but he takes us to the arena and points to the boxer and to the runner. This is not a conception of the Christian life which we like, but it is, nevertheless, thoroughly characteristic of it, and it is well that we should know that lest we become sadly disillusioned and disappointed. C learly D efined E nd I n V iew The passage intimates the necessity of having a clearly defined end in view. “I so run, not as uncer tainly.” Paul is not without a steady aim. There are few things more lacking in the average Christian life of today than a clear conciousness of aim kept ever steadily before us. Do we all know what we are aiming at? Have we a distinct theory of life, and of its purpose, which we could put into half-a-dozen words, or have we not? In the one case there is some chance of our attaining our object; in the other case there is none. The lack of clearly defined purpose is one of the most widespread and enervating dangers of the spiritual life. We have got to be definite; we have got to clarify our thinking as well as purify our hearts. The passage before us indicates the nature of the prize for which we are bidden to strive, and let me say, it is not eternal life, and for several reasons.
Only Christians can run and fight in the way the apostle here indicates. Then, eternal life is not a reward, but a gift. “The zvages of sin is death, but the FREE gift of God is eternal life.” We cannot run for it, or fight for it. though we run and fight from it. and in it. Then the loss of this prize is not the loss of life, yet Paul fears lest he should lose his reward. We can fall in the way of life, but we cannot fall from it. What, then, is the prize? It is the reward of loyalty to Christ Jesus: “I press toward the mark for the prise.” It is a solemn truth that we may have a saved soul and a lost life, and it is that which Paul fears. Now there is this object to be attained; this prize to be won; this crown to be striven for. We should have this object ever clearly before u s ; have definiteness of aim; and distinctiveness of purpose. T he M eans T o B e E mployed . What, then, are the means to be employed to this end ? Such an end is not attained; such a crown is not won, without'’ the employment of means, without strenuous effort on our part. There must, of course, be resolute concentration; mind and heart and will must be set upon the crown. In another connection the apostle says,,¿‘This one thing I do,” which does not mean that he did only one thirfgj'but that all the things he did were gathered up in a single purpose; all the powers of his nature were unified; everything worked toward an end and from a center; his life was a mosaic, and not a heap of stones; there was plan in i t ; there was design in his life ; it was not made up of a lot of loosely related incidents and events, but it was something great, grand, appealing, attractive, drawing, driving. Is life like that in our esti mate and experience ? Think of the concentration of the runner and the boxer. Concentration is one of the great secrets of suc cess, and lack of it, one of the prime causes of failure. In Lord Riddell’s book, “Some Things That Matter,” the first chapter is on concentration. And further, not only must there be resolute concentration, but also severe self- discipline. This is too much out of our view. For ten months before the contest the competitors were in train ing; they had to be pure and sober, to eat sparely and simply, to bear effort and fatigue, and this, mark you, in preparation for the contest itself. The Christian race is no languid promenading in silken slippers; it is no lounging parade toward the goal but racing with all the eagerness of competition, where the racers are companions, but not competitors. The Christian race is strenuous; the Christian fight is no shadow-battle, no hitting the air, no feint, no blows at random, but forthright strokes, hard give and take. Paul’s figure is very forceful. He says, “I buffet my body and bring it into bondage.” It is not somebody else that he is boxing, it is himself, and he is merciless on him self ; he is not advocating ascetic observances, but he is insisting that the spirit must dominate the. body and not the body the spirit.
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