Last week while attending DAR at MTI we watched a clip from the great movie Chariots of Fire.
The movie is a true story (told in the Hollywood fashion) about 2 British track athletes who compete in the 1924 Olympic games in Paris… one a Jew and one a Christian. The Christian athlete is Eric Liddell and he was the son of missionaries with the London Missionary Society to Tianjin, China. He later became a missionary to China himself. He stayed in China during the dangerous 1930s and 1940s. In fact, he died in a Japanese interrment camp in China in 1945.
To set up the scene… Eric has been accepted by the mission society to go to China, but he wants to run in the Olympics first. His sister is thrilled that he’ll be going to China, but unhappy about his committment to running. In her eyes, Eric is choosing running over Christ. As Eric tries to explain… he brings us what has become a famous line… but one I’d forgotten until we watched this clip at DAR. That particular line comes at the 2:50 mark in this 4 minute clip. I’d like to share it with you now and comment a bit more after you watch it…
NOTE: The clip is about 4MB so those with dialup will have a bit of a wait.
I think that one of the keys for me regarding running the Christian race is that I’m going to have to answer this question:
WHEN DO I FEEL GOD’S PLEASURE?
If Liddell is correct… and God is truly pleased when Eric is running… is it possible that God is pleased when I am playing with my children? Or writing? Or hiking? Or learning to play the guitar? These things are not “Christian”… like reading the Bible or going to church… but can they still bring pleasure to God? I’m at the point where I not only think so… but I can’t even imagine how they wouldn’t bring pleasure to God if done for His glory. What do you think?
I’ve got some links about Eric Liddell that I think you’ll enjoy. (1 2 3 4 5)
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