NaIRONMAN Quintana

Nairo Quintana is all that and a bag of chips.

True story man, winning the Giro D' Italia with a lead of almost 3 minutes, Nairo became the second Colombian ever to win a Grand Tour, following Lucho Herrera with his win of the Vuelta a España back in 1987.

Nairo Quintana in Boyaca

Born and raised in Colombia's mountainous department of Boyaca, Nairo's physical combination of having a small body, a robust heart, and a couple really muscular legs give him just the right qualities of being the most tenacious escarabajo* around.

And it's actually super cool to have a new and young national hero rise up from the trenches of poverty and capture the heart of this whole country.

Here in Colombia we like to think of his victory as simply being the precursor for all our high hopes of success in the World Cup.

Winners unify us, they inspire us, and they give us a reason to celebrate, which, if you know much about Latin culture - is something we're always trying to find a good reason for (or any reason for, honestly).

...But in researching Nairo's races in the Giro D' Italia, I've really honed in on his saucy performance in stage 16 where, starting the day in fifth place, he cleverly took advantage of a confusing situation in really wet and nasty conditions, and managed to chase down the lone breakaway rider in a perilous descent when many thought they were supposed to slow down.

Nairo Quintana taking the lead

Then, 2 km into the final 20 km ascent, Quintana attacked and caught up to the leader, finally surpassing him and finishing the day in the lead with the pink jersey.

Colombia celebrated, and four days later Quintana became a national icon as he took the stage as Giro D' Italia's overall first place winner.

...I read a few articles about Nairo, but there's one specifically that really annoys me, and it comes from the most important cycling news website in the world: cyclingnews.com, and in it, the author describes Quintana as "defiant."

I have a problem with that, because words are important to me, and Quintana was not defiant. Defiance is associated with open rebellion or bold disobedience, and there was nothing in Quintana's performance throughout the tour that denoted such things. He was audacious, yes. He was unrelenting, unabated, uncompromising, persistent, and tenacious - absolutely... but he was not defiant.

Lance Armstrong

Defiance is winning 7 consecutive Tour De France titles with the help of any kind of undetectable doping method possible, all the while swearing to the whole world that you've never taken any sort of Performance Enhancing Drug whatsoever. That's what defiance is - it's being a cheat, it's being a fake, it's being a fraud, it's being a sociopath; but being defiant is not being clever or bold enough to take a calculated risk that is completely legitimate even while everyone else is slowing down or falling asleep at the wheel.

...As a missionary I either live or die depending on the words I use to communicate the gospel; and not only that - I have to use them in such a way that captivates people's attention and stirs them to action.

I have to use words appropriately, without manipulation or hypocrisy, or otherwise I'm cheating. At the same time, I should definitely use words correctly, sincerely, persuasively, and attractively so as to save both myself and my hearers (1 Tim 4:16).        

In 2 Timothy 2:5, in Paul's final appeal to his most beloved disciple to carry on in the work of the Lord, he reminds Tim that "...anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor's crown except by competing according to the rules."

Nairo Quintana winning the victor's trophy

The example of one who doesn't (such as Lance Armstrong), serves as a crude reminder of how easy it is to become a fraud, even for someone like me; who has such an obviously Christian profession... However, I believe that the example of Nairo Quintana who legitimately (albeit provocatively), won the Giro D' Italia; serves as an even greater example for us all, of one who "pushed his body and made it his slave," in his drive to be a champ; just like I want to do as well, so that "after I have preached to others; I myself will not be disqualified for the prize" (1 Corinthians 9:27).  

Most defiant and arrogant picture in the history of Twitter

Paul says that at the end of the day, "everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever" (1 Corinthians 9:25), and so I hope that we who know about this "crown" would be all the more *verracos in legitimately fighting for it.

*(an escarabajo is a nickname given to Colombian cyclists who perform extremely well on mountain stages of bike races).

*(a verraco is a word we use here in Colombia to describe an extraordinarily valiant person who is always up for fighting through the toughest jobs).

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Works and Pictures Cited:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/quintana-defiant-in-the-face-of-giro-ditalia-stelvio-fall-out
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2014/jun/06/nairo-quintana-giro-ditalia-richard-williams
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jun/01/nairo-quintana-giro-ditalia-victory-stage-20
http://www.radiosantafe.com/2013/07/06/nairo-quintana
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/other-sports/cycling/cyclist-lance-armstrong-posts-twitter-1430955

Sky Full of Stars

♫Cause in a sky, cause in a sky full of stars, I think I saw yoooooou OOOU♫... ♫Cause you get lighter the more it gets dark♫...

That's basically been the #1 song that's been going through my mind lately since I bought Coldplay's new album, Ghost Stories a couple weeks ago.

I honestly don’t think it’s one of Coldplay’s greatest albums, but “A Sky Full of Stars” is cool, catchy, and techy enough for me to really enjoy it (especially at 2:48 when it goes like: tatatatatoom BAMBAMBAM BABADABADAM), and I also really like the concept Chris writes about of his girl being like a “sky full of stars,” who gets “lighter the more it gets dark.”

That’s cool because Philippians 2:15 says, in relation to working out one’s own salvation in fear and trembling (or in other words producing the works that are the natural overflow of it), that by doing them without grumbling or arguing – then we will shine among a warped and crooked generation like stars in the sky.

That’s pretty awesome, because about stars – it’s like Chris Martin says – they just get lighter the more it gets dark.

Stars are always there, they’re always present in the sky, but it’s when it gets dark that we actually see them. So too, I think that in our service towards Christ, there’s a lot of times that what we’re doing for Him won’t even be noticed by most people, but as we continue to do it, and as we do it with a good attitude – well, everything around us, all the sin and corruption and malarkey in this world, it will all just pale by comparison. Especially as we bring the gospel to more and more un-reached areas, the good work of the Lord will just stand out in starker and starker contrast to everything else.

Are our lives really different from the world around us? Are we honestly making a difference? Are we really shining like stars in the sky? The truth of the matter is that we are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden, and neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. In the same way, let’s let our light shine before others, that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven! (Matt. 5:14-16).