by Dale Reeves

Story Pastor

 

The 2024 Summer Olympics held in Paris, France, is now history. Some of my friends boycotted this year’s event due to the Opening Ceremony antics, but I still wanted to support the athletes (who had nothing to do with the Opening Ceremony) who have spent their whole lives training for this once-every-four-years demonstration of global athletic prowess. I enjoyed watching sports we don’t typically get a chance to see on TV . . . table tennis, rugby, water polo, handball, rowing, and of course this year . . . breakdancing!! Even in my prime, I couldn’t do those moves, and never could spin on my head! And, whether or not you care for Snoop Dogg’s music, USA’s unofficial mascot was certainly entertaining.

 

During the sixteen days of competition, we were treated to many different displays of unbelievable talent, and we witnessed the gamut from those who are hungry and humble to those who declared “I am the best in the world!”—as demonstrated by their pre-event bravado and post-event celebrations. The world will gather again for the XXXIV Olympiad in Los Angeles, California, in four years. And, if you can’t wait until then, you can watch the next Winter Olympics held in Milan, Italy, from February 6–22, 2026.

 

This past Sunday, our lead pastor, Brad Wilson, continued in our teaching series entitled, “Dare to Dream.” If you missed that teaching, you can check it out here. This past week, Brad challenged us to “Make Your Move,” being sure to count the cost before you step out and go for your dreams. Jesus Christ challenged us to count the cost. He said,

 

“If you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. But don’t begin until you count the cost . . . you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own” (Luke 14:27, 28, 33, NLT).

 

Jesus was crystal clear in saying,

“If you’re going to follow me, it’s going to cost you something.”

 

Paying the Price

I always enjoy hearing some of the amazing backstories of the Olympic athletes, and this year was no exception. Did you catch the story about Matt Dawson, the field hockey player for Australia? During training in Perth, Australia, just two weeks before the Olympics, Matt badly broke a digit on his right hand. Recovery from surgery to repair it would have taken months. So, the 30-year-old decided to have the finger removed from the knuckle up in order to take part in his third Games, shocking his teammates and coach. He took the field for the Kookaburras against Argentina just sixteen days after he was injured. It is not the first time Dawson has faced an extreme injury, nearly losing an eye after being hit by a hockey stick in the 2018 season.

 

On the day of his injury to his ring finger on his right hand, Dawson told the media that the break was so bad that he passed out when he saw his finger in the changing room. He thought his Olympic dream was over. The plastic surgeon he consulted said that with surgery, he might not regain full function, but if it were amputated, he could be back playing in ten days. Despite being warned by his wife not to do anything “rash,” Dawson says he made his “informed” decision that same afternoon, as Matt says, “Not only for the opportunity to play in Paris but for life after as well. It’s a bit of a change at the moment, and an exciting challenge, I guess.” He commented,

 

“I’m definitely closer to the end of my career than the start and, who knows, this could be my last [Olympics], and if I felt that I could still perform at my best then that’s what I was going to do. . . . If taking the top of my finger was the price I had to pay, that’s what I would do.”

 

Team captain Aran Zalewski remarked, “When you’ve spent a lifetime of choice and sacrifice to come and compete at the highest level, I think for him it was an easy decision.”

 

Losing your finger to compete in the Olympics is amazing, but Jesus said something even more amazing, and I’m not talking about the time Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell” (Matthew 5:30, NIV).

 

Jesus said, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:25, NIV). As a matter of fact, Jesus made this same statement several times in the Gospels so that his disciples wouldn’t miss this central truth about what it means to truly follow him.

 

Losing Your Life

We live in an age when it seems that so many people are trying to “find themselves,” as it pertains to how they “identify” regarding their gender and their sexuality, what their career aspirations are, and what their purpose in life might be. But Jesus says just the opposite—Don’t spend all your time pursuing how you can find or save your life, lose it for my sake and you will find it!

 

One of the most amazing performances from the USA Track & Field team at this summer’s Olympics in Paris was put on display by Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. The 25-year-old American ran the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 50.37 seconds, dominating the field, and beating her closest competitor, Femke Bol of the Netherlands—setting a new world record for the sixth time! It was her second individual Olympic gold medal. She continues to shatter the ceiling of expectations for women’s hurdlers in the world.

 

Then, just two days later, she won her fourth career Olympic gold medal, running the second leg of the women’s 4 x 400-meter relay, putting her name on a list with some of the greatest figures in track and field history. Her split time in that relay was 47.71 seconds, which was actually faster than the time run by Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic, who took the gold medal in the individual 400 meters. When the fourth runner in the relay, Alexis Holmes, crossed the finish line, not only did the U.S. team have a Secretariat-type margin of victory, their time of 3:15.27 broke a 36-year-old American record.

 

After Sydney placed first in the hurdles, a tiara was placed on her head. She said that her sister-in-law had told her months ago that she was going to bring it to Paris. But she freely admits that she’s more interested in another crown that comes from her relationship with Jesus. Sydney boldly shares her faith in these words:

 

“I credit all that I do to God. He’s given me a gift. He’s given me a drive to just want to continue to improve upon myself. I have a platform and I want to use it to glorify Him . . . I always pray, ‘God, let me be the vessel in which you’re glorified, whatever the result is, how I conduct myself, how I carry myself, not just how I perform.’”

 

When talking about accomplishing goals, McLaughlin-Levrone concludes,

“Anything is possible in Christ. . . . What I have in Christ is far greater than what I have or don’t have in life. . . . I want to use the gifts He has given me to point all the attention back to Him. Being able to glorify Him through my life on the track has shown me a purpose bigger than myself.”

 

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever” (1 Corinthians 9:24, 25, NIV).