[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Farticles\u002Fpole-position":3,"\u002Farticles\u002Fpole-position-surround":63},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bibleBooks":8,"body":11,"columnName":46,"date":47,"description":17,"extension":48,"image":49,"meta":50,"minRead":51,"navigation":52,"path":53,"postType":54,"publication":55,"publicationUrl":49,"seo":56,"stem":57,"topics":58,"__hash__":62},"blog\u002Farticles\u002Fpole-position.md","Pole Position",{"name":7},"Dave Faust",[9,10],"Matthew","Hebrews",{"type":12,"value":13,"toc":42},"minimark",[14,18,21,24,27,30,33,36,39],[15,16,17],"p",{},"Imagine driving your car 55 miles per hour on an interstate highway with no other cars around. Feels pretty safe, doesn't it? What would it be like to go twice as fast and drive 110 miles per hour in three lanes of heavy high-speed traffic? As the speed and danger increase, your heart pounds and adrenaline flows. No wonder it's illegal and unsafe to drive so fast!",[15,19,20],{},"Now imagine doubling your speed again. Suddenly you're driving 220 miles per hour around a narrow track crowded with 32 other cars, maneuvering through hazardous turns and keeping the pedal to the metal for more than two hours of tense, high-speed competition. That's a taste of what it's like every May when auto racers from around the world converge at the Indianapolis 500.",[15,22,23],{},"During the weeks before the race, drivers compete in qualifying runs to determine their eligibility and their starting location. On the first day of qualifying, drivers vie for the coveted pole position. The car with the best qualifying speed earns the right to the inside track and starts the race from the innermost position in the first row of cars. What racer wouldn't want to occupy the pole position? Not only is it the place of greatest prestige; it also allows the driver to start the race in first place, without having to breathe the exhaust fumes from all those other cars.",[15,25,26],{},"This year's Indianapolis 500 pole sitter, Scott Sharp, also enjoyed an additional honor. His pit crew won a pre-race competition by refueling his car and changing the tires faster than any of the other crews. Expectations were high on race day as the cars lined up with Sharp's car in the lead; but on the very first lap of the race, Sharp lost control and his car slid into the wall. Ironically, the pole sitter ended up in 33rd (last) place.",[15,28,29],{},"Indianapolis is a long way from Israel, but human nature hasn't changed much in the last 2,000 years. Read the Gospels, and watch how Jesus' disciples maneuvered for the best position, quarreling about who was the greatest, vying for recognition and power. James' and John's mother even got involved, asking the Lord to grant her sons the inside track to the prestigious seats at Jesus' right and left hand in his kingdom. The Lord responded, \"You don't know what you are asking.\" How often is that true of the requests you and I bring to the Lord in prayer? We may desire a position or honor that looks appealing from our limited perspective. But the Lord sees the big picture, and he asks, \"Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?\"",[15,31,32],{},"\"We can,\" James and John answered. Then Jesus told them the rest of the story. \"You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant.\"",[15,34,35],{},"He went on to explain that in his kingdom true greatness means humble service, not power and position. \"Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,\" he said. For even Jesus himself \"did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many\" (Matthew 20:20-28).",[15,37,38],{},"Humble service and godly character are difficult goals to pursue in today's fast-paced world. We get so caught up in the competition, so determined to outmaneuver the other racers, so desirous of the crowd's applause, that we risk losing the most important race of all.",[15,40,41],{},"\"Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith\" (Hebrews 12:1, 2). And when we do, we'll discover that for Jesus, \"pole position\" meant being nailed to a cross.",{"title":43,"searchDepth":44,"depth":44,"links":45},"",2,[],"From the Editor's Desk","2001-07-29","md",null,{},4,true,"\u002Farticles\u002Fpole-position","column","The Lookout",{"title":5,"description":17},"articles\u002Fpole-position",[59,60,61],"Biblical Theology","Spiritual Formation","Perseverance in Suffering","FRroZLCaQmbqK_RsOx6gbDlcbTwLY9j0Pic0pQY_acI",[64,69],{"title":65,"path":66,"stem":67,"description":68,"children":-1},"Point to the Risen Son","\u002Farticles\u002Fpoint-to-the-risen-son","articles\u002Fpoint-to-the-risen-son","Most cultural shifts don't happen with lightning speed. They're more like slow-moving waters that gradually erode the shore.",{"title":70,"path":71,"stem":72,"description":73,"children":-1},"Polishing up the Golden Rule","\u002Farticles\u002Fpolishing-up-the-golden-rule","articles\u002Fpolishing-up-the-golden-rule","When my Bible was new, it had gold on the edge of its pages. The gold has long since worn off, but as the psalmist wrote, God's commands printed on the pages are still worth \"more than gold, more than pure gold\" (Psalm 119:127)."]