The day I was disqualified

1 Corinthians 9

1. A minister is allowed and worthy to be paid for his labor, but should not be doing it for pay. In other words the attitude of those being ministered to should be, let's do everything possible to take care of this man. The attitude of the minister should be, it does not matter if I get paid or not because this is what God called me to do. (1-18)

2. We need to find out what makes people tick and attempt to win them from that angel. (19-23)

3. We run to win, not to be disqualified (24-27)

    I remember when I was in middle school I ran track. Usually I ran the 400 meters, but on this day I ran the 1600. We were in a meet against a team that was not very good at all and our coach thought it would be good to switch everyone around and have us do things we did not normally do.
    That was probably great for the guys that ran long distances to get to run short ones, but now I was going to have to run a race 4 times the length I normally ran. I was a bit disappointed but determined to do my best. With a few tips from the guy that normally ran the race, I toed the line and waited for the gun to fire.
    Because the other team was not very good it wasn't ridiculous to think I could possibly win. I was sure going to run to win. I planned on crossing the finish line first. The normal miler pointed out the other teams best runner and said, Try to stay with him and maybe you will have enough at the end.
    The first 400 I did really well. In the second 400 he pulled away from me and I started to think I was in trouble. In the third 400 I made up ground and had restored hope that I could do it. In the final 400 I passed him on the back stretch and prayed I had enough left to pull it off. As we were coming down the home stretch he was catching me and I literally dove at the tape trying to win.
    My team mates gathered around and we celebrated. I had crossed the finish line first. The celebration was short lived as the officials came to tell me I had been disqualified. On the back stretch, when I passed my opponent, I came back in to soon. We did not make contact but he had to pull up to keep us from tangling feet as I passed. By rule, I was disqualified.
    What did it mean to be disqualified? It meant that someone else won. I did not even get to have second or third, even though all the other runners did not figure in to the incident. No I was out of the running for any place in the race at all. It meant that all my hard work pushing myself through painful stretches of the race were for nothing.
    Paul did not want this to happen to him in the race for men's souls. He used great discipline in being a soul winner. He made tremendous sacrifice to share the gospel. He wasn't jogging he was sprinting. He wasn't shadow boxing, he was in the ring with a very real opponent.
    Some here would try to tell us that Paul was saying he did not want to have preached to so many and then end up losing his salvation if he did not run well, but we have way to much scripture that clearly teaches us that salvation is not received or maintained by works.
    So what is he talking about being disqualified from? Receiving the crown! (25) He wanted to build out of gold, silver, and precious stones (1 Corinthians 3:12-15). The day I was disqualified I got no ribbon for the race I had run, I do not want that to happen when I stand before God. I am looking for the incorruptible crown.