If there’s an expectation for effort in tennis, what about for being a disciple of Jesus?

In the busyness of celebratory activities on Independence Day yesterday, most Americans probably missed a news report about an Australian tennis player losing all his prize money as a fine for lack of effort.

USA Today reported the issue as follows:

Bernard Tomic was fined $56,100, his full Wimbledon prize money, on Thursday by tournament organizers for not meeting the “required professional standard” in his first-round loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

The Australian lost 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 in Tuesday’s 58-minute match — the shortest in Wimbledon since 2004.

“All players are expected to perform to a professional standard in every Grand Slam match,” the All England Club said in a statement.

“It is the opinion of the Referee that the performance of Bernard Tomic in his first-round match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga did not meet the required professional standards, and therefore he has been fined the maximum amount of £45,000 ($56,100) which will be deducted from prize money.”

Tomic denied withholding effort, saying, “I think I played as best as I could. It’s just I played terrible.” But USA Today noted this isn’t the first time Tomic has been fined for his lack of performance, reporting he was fined $15,000 in 2017 at Wimbledon for saying he was “bored” after losing a match.

Whether Tomic was bored, just played poorly, or was withholding his best “professional standard” performance, it seems reasonable when you’re in the top tennis competition in the world that you, a tennis player, would give your best effort.

“Performance standards” or expectations for people to put forth their best effort are not uncommon, whether it be in professional athletics, the business world, and even in scholastic endeavors, to other areas of life such as our various relationships, and even from our spouses in our marriages. We expect the best effort from athletes, the best effort from employees, the best effort from students, the best effort from friends, the best effort from our spouses … perhaps that should extend to the effort we put forth in following Christ.

Would you be surprised to know that, as children of God, we are encouraged to put forth our best effort in our followership of Jesus? For example, the Apostle Paul writes, “And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father,” (Col. 3:17) and “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor.10:31). In writing to the Corinthian Christians, Paul not only noted areas where they excelled, but encouraged excellence in a weaker area, “Since you excel in so many ways — in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us — I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving,” 2 Corinthians 8:7. And Paul writes to the Ephesian Christians, “So, then, this is my appeal to you – yes, it’s me, the prisoner in the Lord! You must live up to the calling you received” (Eph. 4:1).

Paul even uses the example of an athlete performing to his highest “professional standard” to describe the effort he puts forth (and we should put forth) in following Christ: “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified,” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.

What kind of effort are you putting into your followership of Jesus? Would people think you’re bored? Would they claim you’re withholding your best effort? Or are you applying yourself in an effort to win an eternal prize that never fades away?

Scotty