Soldiers and Athletes

One

Coaches and Drill Sergeants 

St. Paul at one point compares the Christian life to athletes running a race, competing for a crown. In another place he compares the Christian life to warfare against the powers of darkness. So the Christian life is like competitive athletics and the Christian life is like warfare.

One thing both athletes and soldiers have in common is that the training for both can be extreme. Coaches and Drill Sergeants are known for pushing their players and soldiers pretty hard, bringing them time and again to the brink of collapse. They do it so that their athletes can win. They do it so that their soldiers can survive. On the other hand, soldiers and athletes need to trust their commanders and coaches, so that they can win, so that they can survive.

Well, as Christian athletes, and Christian soldiers, our coach, and our commander, is ultimately Christ Himself. No matter how intensive His training program, we need to trust Him and accept it if we want to become the soldiers and athletes we need to be.

Two

He will not let you be tested beyond your strength

The reason coaches and drill sergeants push their team or troops so hard is that they want them to become the best they can possibly be. Now, of course, it could be that some coach or some officer goes overboard. He may demand too much, he might demand so much that he breaks his soldiers or athletes instead of strengthening them. But we have a perfect coach. We have a perfect military commander. 

St. Paul assures us that the Lord will not break us. He says to the Corinthians, “God is faithful, and will not allow you to be tested beyond your strength” (I Cor 10:13).

If players and soldiers don’t trust their superiors, they can’t give themselves fully to the training program they need. Because they’re afraid they’ll be damaged. Afraid they’ll be broken.

So step one in becoming the best Christian we can be, step one in becoming a saint, is to trust that whatever God allows to happen to us, it will not destroy us. It will make us better. It will make us stronger. If we accept it in a spirit of trust and obedience to the Lord who has arranged it on our behalf. 

Three

Physical pain

Boot camp and team practices always have something in common: they tend to involve a lot of physical pain. Being able to deal with physical pain is necessary to athletic victory, and to surviving in combat situations, so coaches and commanders have to help their players and troops deal with pain.

The Christian life is also going to involve physical pain. You are going to suffer, at some point, physically, no matter who you are. Why does the Lord insist on this? Why do the saints have so much physical pain? Why does God allow so much bodily pain throughout life?

At one level, of course, we know that pain allows us to unite with Christ, who died in physical agony, and like Him we can offer our physical suffering for the salvation of souls. But remember, we’re also being trained by Christ for excellence and victory in love. You can’t really love others if you can’t handle pain. If you’re addicted to comfort, or to productivity, to sleep, to physical pleasure. That means you won’t be able to sacrifice those things in order to serve the people you need to serve. Or be purified and strengthened in your soul to receive more of God. 

Parents, or priests, or spouses who can do what’s best for their families or parishes, even if it involves physical pain or stress, these are the ones who can love excellently.

So if God sends you physical suffering, you need to accept it. You need to lean into it because it’s the necessary strengthening, toughening, that makes it possible for you to love God and neighbor. 

Four

Psychological Stress

Every coach and military strategist knows that the difference between victory and defeat often comes down to whether you’re able to keep your head under psychological pressure. They come up with drills and exercises designed not just to stretch their players and soldiers physically, but also psychologically.

The Lord does the same thing. Because guess what? Psychologically fragile people can’t serve God and others the way He wants them to. If you’re too delicate, if you’re always falling apart, then you can’t really love. You can’t really give yourself. You’ll be more a burden than a support.

God is going to throw a lot at us psychologically. He wants to make us like Him, so strong that we can give strength to others. Not needy, but generous, courageous and calm. So don’t be surprised if your state-in-life, your vocation, demands more and more from you, if it continually ramps up in terms of stress, emotional difficulty, and mental pain. Not because God likes our mental suffering. But because we have to get mentally tougher so that we can love, and give, as excellently as possible. 

Five

Don’t Say – “I can’t handle this” / “this is too much for me”

One thing coaches and drill sergeants don’t like to hear is “I can’t do it,” or “This is to hard” or “I don’t think I can handle that.” That’s a sign that their players and soldiers don’t have trust. It’s a sign that they’re not committed to the goal of the team or the army. They don’t want it. 

Besides, as most experience coaches or army commanders know, the fact is that their unexperienced recruits actually have no idea what they’re capable of. They know what they’re comfortable with, not what they’re capable of.

So don’t tell God, “Lord, this is too much for me. I can’t handle all this. I can’t do this.” Remember, He will not let us be tested beyond our strength. We have to trust Him.

If we’re really committed to serving God and the world, if we really care about being able to love the people we say we care about, then we’ll be willing to do whatever it takes. That means accepting whatever God sends our way. And finally, let’s remember that we have no idea what we’re really capable of. God knows the saints He wants to turn us into. And ultimately, it’s a transformation we can’t even imagine. But if we let Him lead us there, it will be absolutely amazing. 

So let’s not buck the system. Let’s get with the program. Let’s trust the life-circumstances God has provided us so we can become the best we can be.