About Jesus Steve Sweetman

About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman

The Nike Christian

We know about Nike shoes that you might be wearing right now, but have you ever heard of a Nike Christian? Well, there is such a thing, and hopefully you are one.

Western culture has inherited its cultural DNA from Greek and Roman cultures of past centuries, which includes our English language. Our word "Nike" in "Nike Shoes" is a variant of the Greek noun "nikos" that means "a victor, an overcomer or a winner". The verb form "nikao" means "to be victorious, to overcome or to win". So why is this so important to Christians?

Nikos and nikao are seen throughout the Greek New Testament, especially "nikao" in Revelation 2 and 3 where it is translated as "victorious". "To the one who is 'victorious', I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God" (2:7). "The one who is 'victorious' will not be hurt at all by the second death" (2:11). "To the one who is 'victorious', I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it" (2:17). "To the one who is 'victorious', I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it. That one will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery—just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give that one the morning star" (2:26 - 28). "The one who is 'victorious' will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels" (3:5). "The one who is 'victorious' I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name" (3:12). "The one who is 'victorious', I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was 'victorious' and sat down with my Father on his throne" (3:21).

To be a victor, an overcomer or a winner suggests there are negative challenges to endure. 1 Peter 1:7 says that as Christians "These [challenges] have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith [trust]—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed". Challenges test our trust in Jesus.

Our western culture hurls a variety of challenges at us that need to be overcome as 1 John 5:4 tells us. "For everyone born of God overcomes [nikao] the world. This is the victory [nike] that has overcome [nikao] the world, even our faith", faith being our personal, ongoing trust in Jesus. 1 Corinthians 15:57 adds to this by saying "thanks be to God! He gives us the victory [nike] through our Lord Jesus Christ".

Being a Nike Christian requires a personal, ongoing, trusting relationship with Jesus, because trust is a relational issue. We can only trust anyone or anything if we have a trusting relationship with anyone or anything. It's why Jesus told the Smyrna church to "be faithful [keep trusting], even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor's crown" (Revelation 2:10).

The Smyrna church was financially poor, harassed by the Synagogue of Satan and persecuted to the point of death. Jesus told it to be faithful, meaning keep its personal, ongoing, trusting relationship with Him. He did not remove these challenges, but He did offer a crown when all is said and done. Victory didn't mean defeating the challenges or being delivered from them. It meant surviving them with trust in Jesus intact, as Jesus' trust in God survived the challenge of the cross.

Every generation seems bent on spending the time and effort figuring out Revelation's futuristic prophecies, but what use is it figuring out the future if you don't have the present figured out. A Revelation-style Nike Christian has a personal, ongoing, trusting relationship with Jesus so he or she can survive all that life presently throws at them with their trust in Jesus intact.

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