I missed the first days of the Sochi Winter Olympics because I was leading a men’s retreat in Florida. Consequently, the first event I caught was Sunday afternoon’s cross-country skiing. I was further pulled into the Olympic spirit via team figure-skating, men’s ski-jumping, women’s snowboarding, and the men’s downhill.

The best “stupid commentary line” of the evening went like this: “He’s skiing conservatively, because he doesn’t like to take risks.” Excuse me? This is the men’s downhill! The course drops 3,500 ft. in about two-minutes; competitors reach more than 70-mph in the first six-seconds; this guy approached speeds of 85-mph most of the way down; he cleared the length of a football field in a couple of the jumps! The one who doesn’t like to take risks is the guy watching on television!

CAPACITY: What’s fascinating about the Olympic Games is not only the competition, but the internal commitment of these athletes to be the very best that they possibly can, to redefine the word “excellence,” and to perform at, or at least approaching, capacity.

This idea of excellence is a core value in how both Rebekah and I interpret and present the Gospel message.

Essentially, we both say the same thing: “Jesus is the catalyst for transformation.” It’s a transformation from spiritual torpor into spiritual life; from darkness into light; from engaging life at a reduced capacity to living “the life that is truly life,” “more and better life than [we]’ve ever dreamed of.”

Olympians are in the business of not only approaching capacity, but redefining what is possible. Remember the history of the conversation surrounding the “four-minute mile”? Pundits said it was beyond the limits of human achievement. But, in 1954, Dr. Roger Bannister did just that.

In the 1968 Olympic Games (Mexico), Bob Beamon shattered the world record by over two feet. What he achieved was unimaginable. His new mark was deemed “unbreakable,” but – almost 23 years later – Beamon’s record eventually fell.

SO MUCH MORE! Capacity always goes well beyond what we think we know. Nowhere is this more clear than in our spiritual lives. In my book 10 Life-Charged Words, I illustrate this with a water balloon. If the balloon holds, say, four-ounces of water, a couple of ounces will make it appear half-full. However, once capacity is approached, the balloon begins to stretch. Eight ounces; 16 ounces; 32-ounces and more.

Here’s the spiritual principle (read the book for the whole idea). We will never increase our capacity unless we first allow ourselves to be filled.

 We will never increase our capacity unless we first allow ourselves to be filled.

God has packed each one of us with hitherto untapped potential. What are we going to do about it?

– DEREK