The Prize of Self-Mastery

 

The winter Olympics in Beijing recently came to a close. I am always amazed and inspired by the feats of athleticism that these champions accomplish every four years. One of the things that most impresses me about these athletes is their tremendous level of dedication and self-mastery. They spend hours each day training for years upon years, pushing their minds and bodies to the limits of human endurance. They eat only according to carefully structured diets and often forgo social and family events so they can compete and train. Their entire being is laser focused on their sport and on winning gold, every hindrance to that goal is set aside. They push through injuries and setbacks and as a result accomplish some of the most amazing feats of skill, strength, and endurance.

I am not sure if the Olympics were a thing when Paul was writing his letters, but he certainly had seen foot races before. He used these athletes as an inspiration for the church in Corinth and for us today, "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we are incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:  But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

The "corruptible crown" that Paul refers to is the laurel crown or wreath that would often be rewarded to winning athletes of the day. Being made out of plants, these quickly faded and wilted. Paul wants us to focus on eternal rewards in heaven, not the earthly ones that so quickly fade away.

Paul points out that these athletes who strive for the mastery are temperate in all things. "Temperate" is a great, old word that does not get used too much these days but means simply "self-controlled."  Any top-level athlete is going to have a massive level of self-control. Nobody wins gold by sitting on the couch, eating cheese doodles, and binge-watching shark documentaries.

For most of us this idea of self-control may as well be a dirty word. The world, the flesh and the devil are arrayed against us, pushing us to indulge every appetite, especially our sexual appetites. Whatever we crave, we are told that we can have it. We have the right to have our needs fulfilled, no matter what. The modern American dream is a life of luxury and leisure, where our every appetite is gratified with little or no effort.

This is not the vision of the good life presented in Scripture. In the last post we looked at the contrast of the flesh and Spirit found in Galatians 5 and how that applies to our sexuality and especially to the issue of masturbation. We saw this concept of self-control paralleled in the Spiritual fruit of "temperance"(another form of "temperate"). When we are fully surrendered to the Lord and the Holy Spirit is working in our lives we will grow in this area of self-control. The more Christ-like we are the less self-indulgent we will be. We will have more self-discipline and be better able to control what we eat, drink, say, think and do. We will lose our temper less and less. We will over-eat and over-drink less and less. We will indulge in unhealthy sexual behaviors, including masturbation, less and less.

If I have a habit of masturbating, a good question to ask myself is, am I manifesting that fruit of the Spirit of self-control? Am I manifesting temperance in my life? Is this an activity that helps me to run my race for the Kingdom of God, or is it a weight that is slowing me down?

We often have this idea that masturbation is something that is natural or even healthy. It is always good to remember that just because something is natural does not mean that it is healthy. There are all manner of natural plants, animals, and microorganisms that will be all too happy to kill us if we give them the chance.

Not all cultures have held to this idea that masturbation is a natural thing. In *The Porn Myth*, Matt Fradd offers this description of the Aka tribe, "The Aka people...are a traditional hunter-gatherer tribe in the Central African Republic. They forage for edible plants, set up encampments in the rain forest and engage in ritual dances and elaborate polyphonic song. To Westerners, their ways may seem bizarre, mysterious, or even strangely beautiful. They also don't have a word in their language for 'masturbation'. It is simply not a part of their cultural model of sexuality."

The Aka people, and many others throughout history have learned to subdue their passions and control their base instincts. Just because we have a craving for sexual release does not mean that we must indulge it. God is calling on us to control that desire. To surrender it to him and let him satisfy us in ways that masturbation never could.

God is calling us to self-control and self-mastery, he wants our lives to be as disciplined and well-ordered as any elite athlete's life. If not more so. Many times, we find these gold-medalists in the news because as soon as the medal hangs from their neck they go out and get drunk and high and end up in trouble. God wants every part of our lives surrendered to the control of His Spirit, especially our sexuality. God wants to propel us to greater glory than any Olympic athlete, but he can't do that if we are hanging on to selfish sexual behaviors.