”Be fighting the beautiful fight of the faith, seize the eternal life, unto which you were called and you confessed the good confession in the face of many witnesses.”
-Put ‘em up, put ‘em up! Who wants to fight?! The beautiful fight of the faith. Be fighting. Seize the eternal life. This is very active language on Paul’s part. Extremely aggressive even. No easy believe-ism here. No $3-worth-of-Jesus-please here. No pray-a-prayer and 18-inches-of-pew-once-a-week going on here. That is not what it looks like to truly follow Christ. Sure, there is a call and a confession - that’s the beginning (and Paul doesn’t seem to care if you prefer more the call side of that or the confession side of that, and if you do have a preference you might want to note that Paul here validates both the passive call and the active confession). But what Paul is urging is, don’t bring it in weak! Don’t stop short. It’s not about how you begin the race, it’s how you finish! Finish! Finish the race. Fight all the way to the finish! Fight for the forward progress of the Gospel in your life and in the lives of those around you! This is not some lazy Sunday stroll along the shores of the sea of tranquility (altho there is surpassing peace in the offing, to be sure). This is not a little dollop of Jesus on my plate, some little-dab’ll-do-ya. This is all-in, all-out, full-on, full-out pursuit of the One Who goes before us, pursuit of that which He has laid up for us in heaven, and pursuit of those around us who He so loves, to bring them along with us. And in the words of Bugs Bunny, of course you realize, this means war.
-What does it look like then to fight beautifully? To win the prize? It begins with surrender. Yes, winning here begins with surrender. I can’t win. I can’t run. I can’t fight - not in my own strength. Not by my own devices. Not on my terms, using my own impotent weapons (whatever I may think they are). This battle is unseen. It’s fought on the inside, and in the heavenlies. It is a battle of the soul, and for souls, spiritual battle, best waged using heavenly power and heavenly tech. No, this is not Stark tech. This is not SHIELD tech derived from some infinity stone. It’s not Wakanda vibranium tech either. All that stuff is the stuff of hopeful Hollywood fiction, the creative fruit of Stan Lee’s imagination. No, this stuff is real. The battle is real. The struggle is real. The enemy is real (as is his defiant rebellion against the God of heaven and his desperate attempt to destroy the beautiful world and souls He created). The weapons are real (Paul unpacks them in Ephesians 6.10-18). The stakes could be no higher. The eternal destiny of precious priceless souls is what hangs in the balance - beginning with my own. And my own impotence is real. Apart from Him there is nothing, not one thing I can do (John 15.5). So I must fight according to the power of Christ which mightily works in me. I can (and do) do all things through His strength. And as we follow and depend on Him, He leads us on to victory! And a triumphal procession, a victory celebration, a ticker-tape parade to end all ticker-tape parades!
-And in this context, the seizing of the prize is not a question of if. Paul is not questioning the veracity of Timothy’s faith. There is no questioning his call or his confession. The prize is indeed laid up for him in heaven, on reserve. He has a reservation - that is not in question. No, it is not so much a question of if as it is a question of how. How is it that you will disembark on that heavenly shore? Will you be crawling across the finish? Head down, as you finally glimpse our God and Savior and contemplate a life of missed opportunities and tepid devotion? Or will you be sprinting down the finishing chute, leaping for joy and into His arms in a victory embrace, celebrating a race well run, a fight fought beautifully? Will you hear the words, well done? Well done - what does that look like?
-Well, all these things about which Paul has been exhorting Timothy in this letter, holding on to the truth of the Gospel of Christ, pursuing love, keeping a good conscience, diligent in prayer, living above reproach and training up servant-leaders who do the same, respecting elders and caring for widows - all of these things must be pursued with the same diligence as that of an elite marathon runner, or some top rank boxer, of the drill sergeant leading his troops (and himself) into the fray. It doesn’t mean there is no place for fun, or that there is no time for rest and relaxation - these are all important for the health and well-being of any ardent athlete. Or soldier. But we've got our marching orders. Fight now. Celebrate later.
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