Olympics: Biblical encouragement on running to win the prize using the Kenyan long distance running prowess

Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

1 Cor 9:24-27 (NLT)

The verses above come from Paul’s letter to the church in the city of Corinth. This was a historical city founded as early as 800 BC. It had been conquered by Rome and completely destroyed in 146 BC. Julius Caesar founded it again in 44 BC. He settled some of his war veterans here giving them lands and titles. It became the capital of the province of Achaia. Most of ancient Greece was contained within this province.

Greek and Latin were the main languages in the city. Greek was the language of daily use while Latin was principally for business purposes. It was strategically located on
a narrow waterway (only 6 kilometers wide). All North-South and East-West traffic had to pass through this port.

Paul and Silas planted the church in Corinth at around 50AD during their second missionary journey. (Acts 18:1-17) Their ministry was so successful that they stayed there for eighteen months. Only in Ephesus did Paul stay for three years.

In these verses, Paul uses a picture drawn from the Isthmian Games. This was the second most important Roman sports festival after the Olympic Games. The Isthmian games were held every two years in Corinth and attracted thousands of people from all over the Roman Empire. The sportsmen competed in six disciplines – athletics, boxing, wrestling, discuss throwing, javelin, and jumping. The modern Olympic games still incorporate these six disciplines. The winner was decorated with a pine wreath on their head. Paul refers to this crown as perishable. He contrasts it to the imperishable one a Christian receives after he finishes his race of life.

Historical records show that the games were held the following year while Paul and Silas were preaching in Corinth. It is highly likely that the missionary duo witnessed them. But he was writing this letter from Ephesus (1 Cor 16:8) as a reply to questions that the Corinthian saints had.

Since the games attracted tens of thousands of people, it seems Corinth did not have enough lodging facilities to house the visitors. The solution was the use of portable tents. These were simple coverings made from animal skins and goat hair, some of the finest materials in use in the ancient world. Paul himself was a tent maker. (Acts 18:3) It is therefore likely that Paul (alongside Aquila and Priscilla) did thriving business during the games.

But Corinth’s success was rivaled by its infamy on sexual vice. Its principal deity was Aphrodite, the goddess of sexual love.

The ancient Olympic games were first held in 776BC. They were the most prestigious event held in Olympia in Greece. The games were held every four years in July in honor of the Greek god Zeus, the senior-most god in the Greek pantheon. The champions in the different disciplines were awarded a wreath from a sacred olive tree. They were considered blessed by the gods and got eternal fame throughout the empire. In addition, they got other favors, awards, and privileges from their home cities.

Paul used the images of the games in three other portions of scripture. He wrote to his son Timothy in his farewell letter in 2 Tim 2:5; 4:7-8, and to the Hebrews in Heb 12:1. It is also possible that he wrote to the Philippians with this image in mind (Phil 3:14).

African athletes have excelled in the modern Olympic Games. More specifically, Kenya clinched most medals in the middle and long-distance races. The middle and long-distance races are the 800 m, 1,500 m (the mile), 3,000 m steeplechase, 5,000 m, 10,000 m, and the full marathon (42 km).

These middle and long-distance races differ from the sprints. The sprints are categorized as 100m, 200m, 400m, 400 m relay, and 400 m x 4 relays. Generally, the fastest athlete wins. Speed is key in sprint races.

However, in long-distance races, an athlete requires endurance rather than speed. However, speed is always important in the final lap. This is what athletes call the final kick. Having conserved his energy by properly pacing himself, an athlete unleashes a momentous burst of energy and sprints down to the finishing line. In other words, middle and long-distance races not only require intense training, but they also require strategic running. As Christians, each one of us needs to focus on his race of life, endure and finish strong.

Kenya in particular has pride of place on the winner's podium. In the thirty-first (XXXI) Olympiad (Rio 2016) Kenya was the best-placed African country at position sixteen. The country had a total of thirteen medals (six gold, six silver, and one bronze). In the thirty-second (XXXII) Olympiad, Kenya emerged position nineteenth overall with a total of ten medals (four gold, four silver, and two bronze.) These were in the men’s and women’s marathon, men’s 800 m, and women’s 1,500 m.

The essence of the verses is an emphasis on training in order to compete rightly. Training gives the athlete the confidence to run his race and focus on the prize.

Onward African Christian Soldiers

The last few days have stirred up deep pride in the Church of Jesus Christ in Kenya and Africa at large. 
Last week,  several church leaders in Nyanza openly called MP's and local politicians, hypocrites. The ecclesiastical leaders charged that the political leaders were doing little to help people get out of poverty.  They added that these politicians were only interested in political  succession battles. 
As was expected,  the politicians from ODM,  the powerhouse in the region came out fighting. Characteristically,  they lashed out at the church leaders almost questioning their moral  credentials.
Yesterday,  Evangelical Alliance of Kenya and other Christian religious organizations united in the call for them to be included in the 'handshake'.  They argue that they represent a critical segment of society.
As expected,  the backlash was severe.  The constant criticism was on 'tithe eating',  'offering loving', 'celebrity pastors' among other epithets.
I rise to support these Christian leaders for asserting the Church's critical position in national dialogue and healing.  To those whose harsh words are directed at the church,  I believe  she welcomes the bricks and bats. After all,  Jesus said 'woe unto you if everyone  likes you'. (Luke 6:26) That's a sure sign that you are conforming to society's standards instead of God's word.
Onward African Christian soldiers march.

Feminism in Kenyan Christian political theology

We began building the concept of Christian Political theology. This concept is important because it lays the foundation for born again Christians to fully engage in politics at all levels of governance. (The assumption is that Christians still are afraid in embracing politics as part of our God given divine mandate on earth. I believe this is a hangover of 'this is not our home, we are just passing by, have nothing to do with it' philosophy, which has effectively been debunked.)

We dealt with the concept of God as the source of our political opinions and man as the object of these opinions. We did say that the welfare of man and his environment is the object of this theology.

Let us go further into the concept of man and delineate the genders. It is evident we have a lot of work to do to bring in the woman fully into the political life of Kenya. Last week, Kenya got three women governors. This was a great step forward. We would like to see a situation where women engage in competitive politics as equals with men and where their chances are equal to men. (For the sake of clarity, let us make it clear man and woman are different in terms of their sexual composition and function.) KTN ran a documentary entitled 'against the grain' where women detailed the sexually explicit harassment meted against them. It is clear that though we say we want the advancement of women, in actual fact the big men are at the center of oppressing women. Millie Odhiambo Mabona's testimony at the hands of male parliamentarians attests to this. There is a lot of cataloged testimony of women who have tried to advance in politics but they have been intimidated by the androcentric nature of our politics. (Sophia Abdi Noor's win in a strongly patristic area as Ijara shows that there is still hope for more women to be elected in other competitive seats outside of the County Women Reps.)

Christian Political ideology incorporates scriptural feminist theology. We believe that man and woman were created equal and given a divine mandate over creation equally. Sexual construction in no way is a factor for preference of the male over the female.

In fact, gender difference is another reason why women ought to be fully involved in politics. Since man (as a term for both male and female) was created in God's image, the fact that God further made a distinction between the male and female proves that the two are the fullest representation of God's image. Without a woman, the world would be dystopian. A woman in her physical and psychological makeup fully represents God's image as much as a man does in his entire construction.

To discriminate a woman because of her figure and accoutrements is to malign and dishonor the image of God. (In fact, it is an attempt to attack God.) This applies to those who issue sexually suggestive threats, intimidate women by their bigger and stronger physical stature and deride women's delicate emotional nature. All forms of sexually explicit and implicit violence against women(again Millie Adhiambo Mabona serves as a sad example) is not in any way Christian Political Theology.

At this point, congratulations are in order for the three women governors (H.E Charity, H.E Laboso and H.E Waiguru), and 22 women MP's elected to the National Assembly (begining with Millie Grace Akoth Odhiambo Mabona, MP elect for Suba North) as wel as the 2 senators, Isiolo's Dulla Fatuma Adan and Nakuru's Susan Wakarura Kihika.

In Christian Political Theology, women are indispensable if we are to execute God's mandate of redemption of our political culture in Kenya.

Kenya coming to birth.

I woke up this morning to the whole street freshly plastered with a candidates campaign posters. Most are red and the road looks like a sea. (Was this the parable spoken before by the fathers?) These guys were obviously illegally busy last night. Dirty tricks! Anyway, today is the beginning of the next four weeks.
My wife Gakii Njeru made me a sumptuous breakfast of 2 sausages, bacon, bread and 2 cups of tea - 6 pieces. 😋
I battled the chill and was surprisingly welcomed to seemingly empty school. In 2013, the male and female lines spilled over in different directions into the estate for several kilometers. Not this time. I checked my voting details and as usual, station 1. This can be really slow. 
There will never lack drama especially when you are in the same line for four hours. The usual mumbling about the slow movement. (Someone will not get my vote. I cannot ng'ang'ana for four hours then vote for just some uncouth fellow who feels it his/her right to be voted for).
Some shouts at the head of the line. A bunch of women, various stages of pregnancy, others with startled babies strapped on their backs pleading maternal considerations. Wait! One baby goes to nursery school with my son! (Is it possible rigging begins in the womb?) Some sleepy, freezing, 'non-conjugated' fellows stammer weak protests. Well, the women vote but along with the electoral manicure, the babies also get a 'Hindu' mark. Common sense it seems. 
Finally, after 3 hours, I get to put my right foot on the stair to the room. Huge relief, but there are some 7 people ahead. Each takes about 5 - 7 minutes. Two or three other mothers implead maternal considerations. 
She sits there, all black and sleek. Her eye blinking a romantic red to me. 
'Come on,' She says.
I finally present my precious right index finger to KIEMS for scanning. KIEMS tells me 'you have a beautiful print.' 
'Wait until you scan the other nine.'
I tell her, 'let's make another date Tuesday, 9th Aug 2022'
'Chao amore' KIEMS logs out of my account.
Ballots. A real anti climax. Why should we spend some KSh 50 billion for this ordinary paper than can be printed in Kirinyaga Road? Becuase there is a shortage of trust. In fact, it is so ordinary, one of the MCA aspirants is missing a tooth. In fact, if you count the cost per voter, this election is costing almost Ksh 2,600 per voter.
Let's vote. MP, mmh...MCA...yup...senator...S3..governor...Sonko...President...obvious! 
Now the county woman rep. This is a cliff hanger. 1st question. The Constitution is clear about the spirit of this seat. But as a man with a vote which adds no value to me, shouldn't the constitution be willing to listen to my request of fairer representation? It feels like I am being punished for being a man. Second question. Must the county women rep be a woman? (I know what the Constitution says, but the law can be dumb too. There are men who represent women's rights effectively on a daily basis.) So I decide to make a clear statement...I won't vote!
Phew! Four years of politics resolved in five minutes. I head for the legal manicure. I take my ID and that's that. 
It is 12:54 pm. Half the day is gone.