What I Learned While Watching the Olympics

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37 NIV).

Watching the Olympics can be exhausting: all those athletes striving for perfection, breaking records, stealing seconds away from previous performances, putting just the right angle or twist on their bodies, straining to reach beyond what seems humanly possible. All for what? A gold medal? Recognition? Fame? Product endorsements?

The sports commentators feed our frenzy as they explain every technique the participants display. As we sit in our recliners becoming quasi-experts on just how to land a double back salto tucked with two full twists or how to set the pace in a 1500 meter race without running out of energy before the final lap, we see one competitor after another strain for the perfect performance, some only to fall short by mere inches or hundredths of seconds or points. Only the favored few get the gold, silver, or bronze. The rest are the also-ran, the vast field of those who don’t make it to the podium.

The drive for ultimate human achievement, raising the bar again and again, fascinates us, and yet, makes us aware of our limitations. Performing perfectly every time in any activity is an unachievable goal—misjudgment or fatigue or any number of factors prevent all of us from holding on to an unblemished record. Physically, mentally, spiritually, we all fall short of the glory of timeless perfection (Rom. 3:23).

But not Jesus. No, He didn’t compete in the Olympics, but He does hold the all-time record for perfection. He is our hero, the One who conquers all. And He did not get a gold medal but a crown of thorns painfully pressed down on His head. For our sake, He suffered, bled, and died a horrible death to redeem us from the penalty of sin, so that “all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24). He won the gold medal of sinless perfection, and He bestows it on those who believe in His name as though we had won it ourselves.

Jesus makes it possible for us to become dead to sin and alive to righteousness, a feat not even Simone Biles or Usain Bolt could accomplish. The Lord Jesus does it all so that “in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37). I admire the feats of Wilma Rudolph, Carl Lewis, Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky, and many more whose dedication to their sports inspire us, but beyond setting an example of excellence, their successes do nothing for us. Their Olympic greatness does not trickle down and touch our lives in any measurable way. But Jesus . . . oh, how He loves us, sacrifices for us, dies for us.  

And much more than that. Through no effort of our own, we can brag about how His righteousness covers us in His glory: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand ” (Rom. 5:1-2a). While it is fun to watch our American athletes celebrate their success as they represent our country, how much more can we rejoice in the ascension of Christ to the throne of heaven because we too share in His glorious victory over sin and death!

We cannot be perfect. We may try, but on our own, we will never transcend the limitations of our sinful humanity. But praise God, we don’t have to make that long jump to perfection because Jesus did it for us. So “we boast in the hope of the glory of God ” (Rom. 5:2b) as we celebrate the King of heaven exchanging His crown of thorns for a crown of glory.    

Share in the triumph of those young men and women in Paris as they compete in the Olympic games, as many of them have dreamed about all their lives. As you watch their joys and sorrows, remember the true Greatest Of All Time whose death became the greatest victory of all eternity.  I’ll be praying for you.