Lessons on Faith From London 2012 Olympics

London 2012 Olympics brought together countries from all over the globe. Many athletes competing could not speak one language. But that did not limit their participation.  As I was just reflecting on this thought, I realized how easy it is for the church to come to the unity of faith. You see, in any sport, the participants do not necessarily have to learn the same language, all they need to know is learn the language of the game. If it's handball, you have to know what makes it different from netball or volleyball. If it's triple jump, you need to know the drill and so with each game.

Once you understand the language of the game, whether in a global tongue like English, or in a local dialect like Kalenjin, you are good to go. And as you enter in the field to play, though speaking different tongues, all players are in essence speaking one language, the language of the game.

The Kingdom of God is bigger than our local realities, it is massive beyond the global sense. Beyond the galaxy, the seen and the unseen. And sometimes one can wonder if the maturity of the church according to Eph 4:13, will come when the church comes to the unity of faith, then will the end really come?

But following the above thinking, let us assume the journey of faith is indeed a game at the Olympics, the reality of maturity is like playing at the Olympics and the people of faith are the players. How then can we make the maturity of all saints a possible reality?

To qualify for the Olympics (maturity of faith), one has to practice, learn the language of the game and be good at it, having achieved the set standard. The language of the game in this context is the Knowledge of the Son. This means that you have to have a level of the Knowledge of the son that is substantial enough to make you qualify for maturity.

Did you realize as nations competed at the Olympic they did not send the whole country there? Everybody could not achieve the standard required to play at the Olympics! What does that mean? It means REPRESENTATION. Could it be as much as the quantum that qualifies one for maturity is unknown, the reality of representation could the secret? That as long as some people are able to achieve the set standard required, they can stand on behalf of the rest and their representation can be considered as an achievement for all? 

Back to the basic thought of this note. 

If each player, in their local reality, learnt the language of the game, and acquired the standard required to play at the Olympics, then the unity of faith we seek could become a reality. And so, the task is for me and you to strive to achieve the standard that will qualify us to play at the Olympics. To strive for the knowledge of the son that will bring us to MATURITY.