Pondering Nike … I’ve never been much of an athlete but I do like watching athletics, & am constantly amazed at the lengths to which athletes will push their bodies to be the best in the world. At the recent World Athletic Championships in Tokyo, the Nike symbol was in evidence everywhere – simple but intriguing. What does it mean? I’ve always thought of it as a tick – tick of approval; tick – you’re on the team; tick – you’re a winner! Turns out it’s a bit more sophisticated than that. The logo was designed in 1971 by Carolyn Davidson, & was inspired by the shape of the wing of Nike, the Greek goddess of victory.
One day recently, in a rare flash of brilliance, it occurred to me that it could also be seen as a cleverly stylised version of the Greek letter “n”, which looks like our “v”. “Nike” spelt in Greek looks like this: νικη. Nike is also the Greek word for “victory”, so that “tick” or “swoosh” as it is called, can also be a stylised “v” for “victory” in English. Long before Nike was a sporting clothing & equipment brand name, it was a word in common usage in the Greek language, including in the Bible, although only once in 1 John 5:4: “Everything having been born of God overcomes the world, & this is the victory (νικη) that overcomes the world – our faith.”
This raises the question of what does it mean to have victory over the world? John uses “world” interchangeably – sometimes to mean the physical cosmos (eg. 1 Jn.3:15-17), & sometimes to mean the people of the world who either hated God or Christians & did not know Jesus (eg.1 Jn.3:13). Obviously, the physical cosmos is incapable of emotions like love or hate, but John’s cultural context was one where some people of the world hated, despised, & persecuted Christians. Although all of the other apostles died violent deaths & John himself was exiled to the island of Patmos, scholars generally believe that he died peacefully in old age at Ephesus – the only one of the apostles to do so. But at the time, very likely “victory over the world”, for John & his readers meant things like νικη / victory over fear with courage, violence with peace, hatred with love, & perhaps even victory over death with eternal life. All born of faith in God.
Now the question for us is, what does it mean in our time & culture & context, where we’re not being hated, despised or persecuted (at least I’m not – at the moment anyway – or at least I don’t think I am) to have νικη / victory over the world? What does it mean for me? What does it mean for you? How does faith in God help you to have νικη / nike / victory over the “world” in opposition to God?
It’s also worth pondering what “victory” means. It’s not always or only about winning, or being first or the best. Sometimes it’s a victory just to get to the finish line, & sometimes it’s a victory just to get to the starting line. As the Nike slogan goes, “Just do it!”. Or as John might say, “Just love God, love one another, & love others!” Perhaps the real νικη / nike / victory is simply to love as God loves …
Grace & peace
