Did you hear all the carping, whining, complaining, bickering, and name calling? No, I’m not talking about the Hatfields and McCoys, Republicans and Democrats, or Arabs and Israelis. I’m talking about the U.S. men’s 4 x 100 meter relay team. It was shameful and embarrassing.

        The bickering was only the beginning of this national embarrassment. You see, they were arguing about who was going to run on the GOLD medal relay team. They were so arrogant that they didn’t allow for the possibility someone else might win. They were convinced that who they were and the uniform they wore assured them of victory.

        When the race was finally run, they dropped the baton—not literally, they all hung on to it during the race, but they dropped it figuratively. They were not only beaten, but they were blown off the track by the remarkable Canadian team. They were remarkably unsuspecting. They were so caught up in their bickering they failed to notice their competitors.

        As believers in Christ, we too have the assurance of victory. Many times, however, we get so arrogant in our assured victory that we fail to notice our threatening competitor. In a culture which candy coats everything odious, we forget to talk about our enemy. Satan, devil, and demons are reserved for Generation X oriented TV shows and special effects movies. We treat him as a lightweight, an unthreatening force. So in the midst of our pride and cockiness, we make ourselves vulnerable to the attacks of the evil one. What our arrogance doesn’t destroy, our bickering among each other completes.

        Victory can be ours. That’s Jesus’ assurance, Paul’s promise, and John’s vision. But in our celebration of a future victory, we must still remember to run the race. We don’t want to underestimate our competitor. We must not bicker among ourselves and act as if our brothers and sisters were the enemy. We should never take our eyes off the prize awaiting us, but run with courage and determination. Victory is ours, let’s not drop the baton!