The True

The Race Set Before You

“Baby, I am so proud of you for watching out for your little sister, but never do that again.”

It was true. I was so incredibly proud of the concern our oldest daughter, Brell, had shown for her younger sister, Hope, during their very first swim meet a few years ago. Both girls had been entered in the same 25-meter butterfly race, and Hope was terrified. Swimming on a team was new to both girls, and the butterfly was particularly new and challenging for Hope. Brell was a new swimmer, as well, but she was entered in the race as the favorite to win and earn her team points.

When the starter’s horn sounded, both girls dove into the water, but when they surfaced, Brell’s eyes were locked on Hope a few lanes over, and they remained on Hope for the remainder of the race. The result, unsurprising to those of you with swimming experience, was that Brell not only did not win the race, but actually finished behind her younger sister.

In truth, I did not care what place Brell finished that day. In fact, my heart leaped with joy at the depth of her concern for Hope. Even so, I wanted her to understand her assignment going forward—on the swim team, yes, but more importantly, as it correlated to her walk with Jesus.

Hebrews 12:1-2 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”

The race set before Brell that day had been one length of the pool, and it was marked out by lane dividers on either side. Her eyes were to be set on the far wall of the pool to the exclusion of anything happening outside her lane. Had she done so, she almost certainly would have won (she has rarely lost since).

However, that day Brell’s eyes were fixed on her sister. That fixation was properly motivated (concern for Hope), but improperly applied (Hope was in zero danger, as a lifeguard sat in watchful observance and would have responded far more quickly than Brell). Brell’s “entanglement” with Hope’s race clearly “threw off,” “hindered,” and directly impacted Brell’s race.

I could not have been prouder of her.

I also wanted her to be free of that temptation going forward.

The application for you and me today is straight-forward. Yet, if we are honest, how often do we allow properly motivated distractions hinder us from the race marked out for us? How often does your pursuit of a deeper relationship with Jesus, or your channeling of His deep love for others, get thrown off by an entanglement? Perhaps the entanglement is sin, as our passage suggests. Perhaps it is simply a misdirected fixation of our eyes, and even a properly motivated one at that!

Friends, no matter the cause, when your eyes and mine are not fixed on Jesus, we fall behind in the race marked out for us. Our passage calls Jesus the “pioneer and perfecter” of our faith. Some versions interpret it “author and finisher.” Either way, it means that Jesus has a plan for our earthly service to Him, and it is a wall-to-wall, birth-to-death plan! He wants our fixation on Him from the first day to the last, and we can trust Him with the results.

God most certainly wants to use us to help others in their race (hence our passage’s reference to the “great cloud of witnesses” surrounding us). But His plan is for us to fixate on Him, and to trust His guidance to work all things together for the good of those who love Him (Rom. 8:28).

Run the race marked out for you. Fix your eyes on Jesus. You can trust Him with your race, as well as the race marked out for those you love.

U.S.

Eligible for the Ballot

Former President Donald Trump is eligible to appear on the 2024 primary ballots in every state. That is the main holding of the U.S. Supreme Court in an opinion issued this week. The ruling came a day before Super Tuesday, the most significant date on the primary election calendar, and effectively ends a number of state-based challenges to the former President’s eligibility to hold federal office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Analysis and eternal perspective: This story is a prime example of why we gather as The Equipped family. The overwhelming coverage of this story—from across the political spectrum—over the last several weeks served to fuel division and anxiety. It also often focused on many things other than the central questions of the case, and, as a result, left the consumers of that coverage unclear about the road ahead.

However, as you and I together took a different approach (here and here) by reading the actual constitutional provisions in question, as well as the core arguments being presented by both sides, we were equipped with a fundamental understanding of the issue and very likely expecting a result along these lines.

In sum, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to decide whether the former President engaged in insurrection that would have rendered him ineligible to hold federal office according to the 14th Amendment, and further clarified that it is only congressional legislation that can enforce the prohibition.

It may surprise many who simply consumed coverage of the story that the main holding in the opinion (that states do not have authority to bar a candidate from a federal ballot) was decidedly unanimously 9-0. It is important to recognize these dynamics, as both sides had an incentive to ramp up your anxiety while the issue was simmering, even though it was possible to anticipate a great amount of coalescing around the path forward.

It is worth noting that Justices Barrett, Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson would have left open additional federal options for enforcing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, but none accepted the authority of a single state to do so.

As Jesus followers, we are not immune from being caught up in anxiety because of our political preferences. We are, however, afforded clear guidance on how to avoid it. As we regularly stand together on the promise of 2 Timothy 1:7—that we are not animated by fear, but rather by power, love, and sound minds—we are able to navigate these tumultuous stories across lines of political and ideological difference. By doing so together, we benefit from iron sharpening iron (Pr. 27:17) and avoid the fear-based division so easily otherwise experienced.

U.S.

Super Tuesday

The biggest day on the presidential primary calendar is now in the books. March 5, 2024 (“Super Tuesday”) included Republican primaries or caucuses in 15 states, while Democrats held primaries or caucuses in 16 states or territories. The results, as expected, further cemented President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump as the presumptive nominees, with both men winning all but one of their respective contests.

Analysis and eternal perspective: Barring an emerging factor other than the ballot box, the 2024 presidential election will be a rematch of the 2020 presidential election. This has been extremely likely for some time now, but after Super Tuesday, both candidates will win their party’s nomination unless there is a circumstance requiring them to leave the race. President Biden has prevailed in every state thus far, and former President Trump has nearly done the same, with the lone exception of Vermont. In non-state contests, President Biden was bested by Jason Palmer in the territory of American Samoa, and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley prevailed over former President Trump in the GOP contest in Washington, DC.

Though the outcomes of the primary season are no longer in doubt, the process continues, and the steady ramp-up toward the November general election only intensifies. If you are a Jesus follower living in America, you are blessed with robust liberty to participate in your own self-governance. You should rejoice in that liberty and use it to increase the liberty of others (Gal. 5:13).

We as The Equipped should also anticipate a growing need around us, as the political calendar works to sow division. The freedom to engage in open debate and dissent is a blessing of liberty, but our primary citizenship is in heaven (Philip. 3:20), and our first duty on Earth is to serve as Ambassadors of Jesus (2 Cor. 5:20). By regularly reminding ourselves and each other of these eternal priorities, we will together navigate the election season in a way that promotes flourishing in our lives and in our communities.

U.S.

End of an Era

The longest serving party leader in U.S. Senate history is stepping down from his leadership post at the end of the year. Sen. Mitch McConnell has been the Republican leader in the U.S. Senate since 2007, but announced that, although he plans to serve out the remainder of his term (which expires in January 2027), he will not serve as his party’s leader in the chamber over the final two years of that term.

Analysis and eternal perspective: Leader McConnell’s announcement sets off a scramble among Senate Republicans to determine a replacement. Senators John Cornyn, John Thune, and John Barrasso have long been seen as likely successors to Leader McConnell, and Sen. Rick Scott is also reportedly interested in the job. It is entirely possible there will be additional Senators seeking the post, as well.

1 Peter 4:7-11 is a wonderful guide for how we should traverse our own term of service here on Earth. It reminds us that no earthly assignment is forever (“the end of all things is near”), and that we should be prayerful, of sober minds, and live with deep love for one another. Our gifts should be used to serve others, and our service should lean on God’s strength and be deployed for His glory.

On Earth, all eras come to an end, but the glory of God is everlasting (Rom. 11:36).

The Beautiful