I thought in the spirit of the Olympics I could do a couple of posts with the Olympic theme. As most things in creation, there are a number of things we could learn from the games. In this first post, let’s talk about synchronized diving.
I watched this sport and as with most of them, was completely amazed with the precision of the dives and the amount of time and training it had to have taken to perfect the dives. Think about it, most of us could barely do the dives alone much less attempt to coordinate every move with a partner. Each move had to be perfectly timed and coordinated for the dive to work right. I marveled at the precision of the teams throughout the swim meet.
Again, everything in creation points to the Gospel and synchronized diving is no exception. There are numerous Scriptures that came to mind while watching the games. Here are just a few:
- Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12.2
- Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. 1 Corinthians 15.49
- He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Hebrews 1.3
If you think about it, the Gospel is centered around the essence of Christ who was the very image of God. The two were one or for the matters of our discussion, synchronized. At the river when Christ came out of the water, the Trinity was fully exposed, further showing the synchronization Christ had with the heavenly throne. The divers could be another (although scaled down) example of the synchronization of Christ with God the Father.
Likewise, we are to be in communion with Christ so much so that we look like the two divers in the picture above. Each routine had one of the divers as the captain providing direction to ensure the movements were perfectly mimicked. How emphatic would the Gospel in our life be if we were to truly conform ourselves to the image of Christ? Each move of ours in step with that of our Captain so that when we dive into the situations of our lives, we are completely in line with and conformed to that of Christ. The result would be an image of true surrendering one’s life and the beauty that follows.
Finally, these divers did not just begin diving together completely in sync. It took days and months, if not years of practicing together. We need to remember that we cannot simply take the dive one day thinking our lives would be completely in line with Christ. It takes days of consistently being in communion with Christ so that in time, our moves are completely in line with our Savior.
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About the Writer:
Trent Cotton has spent a number of years in management and business consulting. After spending some time in the field, he joined the HR department, beginning in recruiting and eventually serving as the Department Head of HR for one of the major lines of business. With such a varied background, he works to bring all of these together to help churches and other Christian organizations incorporate some common business practices into their ministries to enable them to better serve the Kingdom. In his free time, he also writes a lot on Church Development as a Church Consultant.
As a husband and father of three, Trent Cotton has a passion surrounding the role Christian Men are to play in their families, communities, churches and businesses. This particular blog is dedicated to helping men take back the role that we have lost in society.
Christian Men-Christian Warriors 