Disqualified?

 August 11, 2023

My late father-in-law was one of the pioneers of NASCAR, racing on the beach at Daytona in the early fifties alongside such drivers as Lee Petty, Tim and Fonty Flock, Herb Thomas and Red Byron. Not having grown up in that racing milieu, I knew nothing about stock car racing until I met and started dating his daughter, Linda. 

One of the things I learned was how before a big race, each driver had to qualify; to drive around the track as fast as possible, the fastest time earning the coveted pole position, and all the others lined up behind according to the ascending time it took to circle the track. One’s qualifying time was all-important for the big race.

When our sons began competitive swimming in the Boys’ Club, and later in high school, even worse than coming in last in a race was to be disqualified because of a false start, missed turn, improper stroke. Disqualification felt shameful.

In 2 Corinthians 13:5, Paul tells us to “examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you are disqualified.” There’s that word again—“disqualified.” How can that happen in Christian life?

In Colossians 1:12, we read that God has qualified us through faith in Jesus Christ. After telling us this, there follows the test of whether we are in the faith: true believers are partakers of an inheritance, delivered from darkness, translated in to the domain of God’s Son of love, redeemed and forgiven. God in Christ has qualified us, allowing us into his race of eternal life. The test, the evidence that we have actually received that qualification is whether or not we live with an eye to our future inheritance, whether or not we are being delivered from darkness and are learning the language of heaven, whether or not we are still living as slaves to sin, or are being delivered from the old ways of our lives.

When I read 2 Corinthians this morning, it felt like I had never seen those words before, and I had to examine myself as to whether or not I am in the faith. I had to test myself to see if I had qualified. Am I living for a future inheritance, or is my vision limited to this world and life? Am I being delivered from darkness, learning the customs and language of heaven? Am I still in bondage to sin, or am I being delivered? Do I live in forgiveness? Am I offering it to others?

These are weighty questions that dig deep into my soul. I examine and test myself, not because I am worried about losing my salvation, but because having watched swimmers get disqualified, I’m not in this race all by myself. I am part of a team, and if one disqualifies, the whole relay is disqualified. Others depend on me, as I depend on them. So I examine myself, test myself because Jesus Christ is in me, and what I do reflects on him.