It seems that 8 Olympic badminton players, representing 3 different nations, have been kicked out of the London Olympic games for not giving their best effort to win. The players defended themselves by saying that they were conserving their energy for the next round. However, it is speculated that they were attempting to control who their opponent would be in the quarterfinals, which is a breach of conduct for the sport.

Michelle Kaufman, of the Miami Herald, writes, “According to published reports, the players did not seem to be exerting themselves and the longest rally in the first game was four strokes. The referee, Thorsten Berg of Denmark, went onto the court at one point and warned the players of their conduct amid a chorus of boos.”

I wonder if some half-hearted Christians would put forth more of an effort if they faced the possibility of being publicly chastised by their leaders, or if the rest of the church could boo their performance?

I suppose the best motivation to do our best would be to remember that Jesus died for us.

“To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.”—Colossians 1:29.