“Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules.” 2 Timothy 2:5¹

I ran cross country in high school. My least favorite part of an away meet was the “pre-run” of the 3.1-mile course. I barely had enough energy to run the official 3.1 miles; to make me pre-run a good chunk of those 3.1 miles in order to acquaint myself with the 3.1 miles that I was about to run fell under the definition of cruel and unusual punishment. Couldn’t they shuttle us around? But it was a necessary cruelty if I had any chance of competing victoriously: missing a loop or a turn in the winding course would automatically disqualify me from placing in the meet. Enduring hardship—the kind that results in victory—requires playing by the rules.

There are all kinds of creative ways to cross the finish line first—like Rosie Ruiz, the women’s division “winner” of the 1980 Boston Marathon who ran only the last 800 meters of the 26.2 miles—but a true winner will cross the finish line first according to the rules.

We understand this in athletics, but this same principle 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 teaching 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 Corinthians 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.”² Aim for God’s eternal, irrevocable “well done”—play by His rules.

 

This article was first published in GFA’s Summer/Fall 2025 issue of Sowing & Reaping.