The Tour de France is an epic contest, merely finishing it is a feat of endurance, let alone winning.

But what can it tell us about the Christian life?

Former champion Geraint Thomas said "Every year is tough. There's no such thing as an easy tour."

Year to year the race tackles a new route around France covering roughly 3,500km over 21 stages, scaling some of the highest mountains and battling conditions ranging from extreme heat to heavy rain - and sometimes even snow.

Typically each stage is 150-220km long, riders spend up to six hours a day in the saddle with minimal time for recovery and just two days rest from racing over the 23 days.

Mind games

As we have seen again and again during the Tour, it is not just the physical exhaustion that is so testing. It's a huge tactical battle, a three-week long chess game on wheels. Then there is the skill element, descending sometimes at over 100 kph, a 184 rider peleton racing centimetres apart - it's been described as "like being in a 100mph traffic jam." Add to that the relentless mental pressure as rivals constantly try to challenge the leader and all in all it is little wonder that the Yellow Jersey is such a highly prized trophy.

There is something compelling about endurance sport. Some sport is over quickly and is about living on your nerves. Other sport is about a team coming together and producing a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Endurance sport is about lasting the course; keeping on keeping on; digging deep not to give up minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day.

Enduring over the distance

Perhaps this is why the Christian life is compared in Scripture to the great endurance sport of the ancient world; the marathon. The first marathon commemorated the run of Pheidippides, a soldier who ran approximately 25 miles near the town of Marathon in Greece to announce the defeat of the Persians. Legend has it that he was so exhausted that after delivering the message he dropped dead (a feeling many have as they cross the finish line)!

In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 the Apostle Paul (who when you read a brief history of his life in 2 Corinthians 11:16-33 knew a thing or two about endurance) compares the Christian life to a marathon. In verse 24 he urges those who follow Christ to "run in such a way as to get the prize." This will involve"strict training" (v25), focus (v26), and sacrifice (v27). But this is all worth it because of the prize that is God’s gracious gift to those who persevere to the end; "a crown that will last forever" (1 Corinthians 9:25).

As sportspeople, we understand the need for these qualities if we are to succeed. It is a wrong understanding of grace that leads some to think grace is opposed to such focused effort. God’s grace is not opposed to effort - but earning. We do not do these things to earn a crown but because a crown already awaits as a gift of God.

So as you watch the Tour de France and reflect on it, use this great endurance event as a spur to sacrificial and disciplined grace-filled effort knowing that the prize that awaits those who trust in Christ is won, and will last forever.

*This article was originally published in 2019*

Pete Nicholas, Inspire Church London

Pete is a former Trustee of Christians in Sport and played Rugby. Pete is ordained in the Church of England and is now Senior Pastor at Redeemer Downtown in New York

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