The modern Olympics are a recovery of the ancient games held in Greece. In non-Olympic years the Greeks would participate in the Isthmian Games in the city of Corinth. (Corinth is on an isthmus.) Corinth was an ideal location for Paul to ply his trade as a tent maker — people coming to watch the games would need a place to stay and, with no Holiday Inn handy, a tent would do. The people of Corinth were very familiar with athletic contests. Paul uses that familiarity to illustrate a gospel point. Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one. Finding a connection between the gospel and peoples’ lived experience is the preacher’s task.
