What prize are we trying to win?

In 1 Corinthians 9:24, the Apostle Paul urges Christians: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.”

I have often heard people explain this verse as an exhortation to strive hard for salvation, to endure in faith, to persevere in love, to remain steadfast in hope, and take hold of the prize—eternal life. In this sense, the wreath (‘crown’ in some translations) in verse 25 is also referring to personal salvation, and indeed the approval of God, when Paul says of the runners “they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable”.

However, when we look at the context I wonder whether Paul may have a different prize in mind. The chapter describes his single-minded devotion to his task, and his willingness to give up his own rights and his own comfort for the salvation of the lost. In verse 19 he describes himself and his ministry in this way: “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.”

What Paul is striving to win is people. His purpose—for which he disciplines himself and endures with focus and clear intent—is to win people for Christ. He repeats the idea in verse 20, saying he aims to win Jews, to win those under the law, to win those without the law, and to win the weak. Winning people is explained further in verse 21 as saving people—which he does by every possible means. Thus his athletic analogy is another way of saying what he said in verse 12, that "we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.”

Paul is urging Christians to be, like him, willing to suffer and endure and become slaves of others—that is, to run the race—in order to win the prize, which is people saved for Christ. The prize is people. He also describes the crown (or wreath) as people in 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20:

For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.

Our salvation is a free gift from God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and the victory is already ours in him. But to be saved is to desire that others would be saved to the glory of our Saviour. To belong to Jesus is to give up our own personal agenda and devote ourselves passionately to his. So let us selflessly remove all hindrances to the gospel, and run in such a way to win people for Christ. 

Photo credit: Kyle Post