O Ye of Liddell Faith

Share

For most of my adult life, I have heard talk from members of my faith and others rationalizing their participation in sports on the Sabbath. What they do not realize is that this argument, this dilemma, is an old one, already handled, in a time no longer remembered by many yet on the earth. It was once a national sensation, but if you were born after summer 1924, you weren't even alive when it happened.

Among my favorite movies is the movie "Chariots of Fire". I first became aware of this movie because of the musical score composed by Vangelis for the movie. It deals with among others the story of Eric Liddell, part of the British Olympic contingent to Paris in 1924. It focuses on themes of faith and faithfulness to principle and loyalty to God. I find it a little bit ironic that the descendant of a king who once beheaded his best friend for loyalty to God demanded the same treason in return for national piety. Even in our nation, Patrick Henry had written about how abandoning his principles would be like an act of disloyalty to God.

Eric refused to do any kind of sport on Sunday. It does not say if he would exercise, but he refused to do anything competitive on the Lord's day. He tells the man who would become the king that God makes nations, God makes kings, and God makes the laws by which they rule, and His law says that the Sabbath is His. Every member of the British Olympic team who competed on Sunday lost. Liddell turned around on Thursday and outran one of the fastest men on earth. So, you are not the first to weight the opportunity cost of sports on Sunday, and you will not be the first example made thereby.

Liddell was vindicated in his decision thanks to timely intervention by the youthful Lord Lindsay, who was a teammate of his. When Liddell completed his work, in his early forties, God called him home, he having sealed the testimony of his faith with his life as a missionary in Japanese occupied China.

In the sermons Liddell preaches associated with running depicted on the film, Liddell asks parenthetically this question. "Where does the strength come from to finish the race of faith? From Within". Each of us is tempted to hedge on principles, to abandon what we know, to quit the race, but the strength to not only finish the race but also to win it comes from an inner personal resolve to dare to be true, to be valiant, no matter what opposition may arise. Would that more men were of Liddell's faith.

Perhaps you will not be called upon as was More to die at the block or as Liddell to vanish into obscurity abroad, but your choices are the testament of your life and faith. The first time you do something in error, it's a mistake. The second time it's a choice. If you have room to upgrade your choices, this is the time. Rise up and be men, men worth remembering, men of faith, the very and only kind of men who are taken to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire.