Why I Love Triathlons

I think I finally understand why I love triathlons so much. It's the finish line. There is a beginning point and an ending pointing. There is either accomplishment or failure. When it's over it's over and you either finished it or you didn't. It is black and white. I walk away from a triathlon with a tremendous sense of accomplishment.

Ministry is not like that at all. We will never reach them all. There will always be more people to be reached. There will always be teens struggling with one issue or another. Rarely if ever is there a sense of, 'whew the job is done'. The finish line is reserved for another day and we’re not sure when that day is.

I believe that is why we are tempted to equate 'events' with ministry. They do give a sense of accomplishment. Wow, look at that. We put on an event. People came, seemed to have a good time then we cleaned up and went home. We walk away from events feeling like we accomplished something. There was something defined that we were trying to do. We set out to attract a crowd, start at a certain time, do some things for a few hours, send the people home and clean up. That's pretty easy to measure. Did we accomplish anything 'real'? Were any lives changed? We're a little afraid to ask that question...it may interfere with our sense of accomplishment.

So in the mean time I'll do ministry as best I can. Loving God and loving people... and leave the finish line for race day.


tags: triathlon