You might have been following the Raygun Olympics controversy with interest, or you might have no idea what it’s all about. I’ve found it interesting, but for a very particular reason – Raygun is most of us. We just don’t know it.
Why do I say that? Well, quick background: Rachael Gunn is an Australian university lecturer who also breakdances, where her b-girl name is ‘Raygun’. She won an Oceania dance battle and qualified to represent Australia at the Paris Olympics where breakdancing was an Olympic sport for the first time.
At the actual Olympics, people were somewhat confused by Raygun’s performances. While other breakdancers performed complex and athletic spins, twirls, flips and jumps, Raygun crawled in circles on the floor, rolled around and hopped like a kangaroo. The judges eliminated her from the competition with an aggregate score of 54-0 to her opponents.
It soon became apparent that this was Raygun’s style. Unable to compete with the athleticism of her much younger competitors, Raygun and her coach, who is also her husband, have developed their own rather unique idea of what breakdancing is.
We measure ourselves based on our ideas…
The problem with Raygun’s innovation is that what worked in Australia didn’t work when it came to the ultimate test at the Olympics. The judges there didn’t measure her based on her own ideas of what breakdancing could or should be. They measured her based on their standards, and against those she fell wildly short. Raygun had to leave the Olympics with her hopes shattered and questions hanging over her selection and her ability.
So why are most of us just like Raygun? All of us try to follow a moral standard in life. It’s a good thing to do, for sure. However, sometimes we aren’t sure what the moral standard should be. Or sometimes we think that the ideal is unattainable, so instead we set new ones for ourselves. We measure ourselves based on our ideas of what is ‘fair’ or ‘reasonable’ and compare ourselves to others to get an idea of how moral we are relative to them.
In the judgement of ourselves or our friends, we could be doing pretty well. We might not do ‘terrible’ things and might even try and offset any less ‘nice’ things by doing good elsewhere. Overall, we seem OK, and we think that we’ve ‘qualified’.
… there is a time is coming when everyone will be judged … on the moral standards of a perfect God.
However, there is a time coming when everyone will be judged based not on their own moral standards, but on the moral standards of a perfect God. And against that standard, we all score 54-0 against us. In the same way that Raygun might have got a bit of a shock that her performance went down like a lead balloon, we might just be in for a shock too that our life does not measure up when a perfect God tests it.
That might seem like bad news, but here’s the good news: we are able to get a perfect score, no matter how our life looks. The Bible says:
“But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.” Romans 4:5
Raygun was kicked out of the Olympics for her performance, but God doesn’t want to kick us out of His presence. We have all sinned. None of us can stand on our own under the judgement of a perfect and holy God. But although we can’t pass the test by our own efforts, we can trust in Jesus who lived the perfect life and was obedient even to suffer death to pass the test for us. He suffered the humility that we deserved. We are accepted by God only because of Jesus, and not because of ourselves.
When we understand this wonderful truth it changes everything in our lives. No longer will we strive to try and get to heaven by our own power. We can’t be proud or boastful in how good the life is that we lead. Obedience to God is good, yes, and living a moral life is admirable. However, it is only by grace that we are saved.
“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” Ephesians 2:8-9
So what about you? Are you trusting in Jesus? Have you accepted Him into your life so that His grace can make you perfect in God’s sight? If not, what is stopping you?
And if Jesus has paid the price for you, then what is God calling you to? What is God calling your church to? As a saint, how should you live? As a leader, how should you lead?
Raygun left the Olympics with people questioning her selection and ability. The beautiful thing is that God does not question our selection or our ability. He chose us. He knows us. He knows our struggles, our weaknesses. But even though our best efforts fall short, every day God gives us new opportunities to honour and worship him with all we do. We cannot earn our salvation, but we can certainly walk ever closer with the one who did and store up eternal rewards that will never rust or fade. If we trust in Jesus, then when that day of judgement comes we will receive something better than any Olympic gold medal – the prize of life eternal with Him.
This article is based on a Facebook post by Dan Matthews on 19 August 2024.
