Healthy Body, Healthy Spirit

Romans 5:1–5

5Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. ³And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

1 Corinthians 9:24–27

²⁴Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. ²⁵Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. ²⁶So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; ²⁷but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.

1 Corinthians 6:20 (NIV)

²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

            The other day I had my semi-annual physical and I went through the standard routine. I started by stepping on the scale (which is generally the most depressing part of the whole experience for me) then I went in to the examination room and the nurse took my temperature and my blood pressure.

            After that the doctor came in and listened to my heart and my lungs, he thumped my chest and asked me to take deep breaths, he looked in my ears and down my throat , did a couple of other tests and then he sent me down to have my blood tested. The good news was that I had blood available for testing.

            I was kind of curious if working out three times a week for the past 6 months has had any measurable benefit on my health score and apparently it did.  My weight was down a bit, temperature was normal, pulse was good and blood pressure was acceptable. The other numbers (which were headed in the wrong direction) seem to have normalized a bit.

            The game isn’t over yet but it appears that all of the time I’ve been putting in at the health club is paying off, which is good motivation for continuing this program AND I can use all of the motivation I can get because it is easy to fail and hard to succeed.

            I know some people who would describe walking, running and strength training as “fun” activities. Personally, I have a hard time using the word “fun” because everything I do when I get to the health club hurts to some degree and there’s a name for people who like to hurt themselves. They are called “masochists.” I don’t like it, but there is a reason I do it.

            Pain is not really the issue because ultimately exercising isn’t really about whether or not it is “fun.” Exercising is about being as healthy as I can be, given what I have to work with. It’s about being faithful. It’s about being able to respond when I am called and go where I am sent. It’s about being the best servant of God that I can be.

            This is really a STEWARDSHIP CONVERSATION. God has called us to be good stewards of all that we have been given, which is more than just the air we breathe and more than just the water we drink.

            WE SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT STEWARDSHIP IS ALWAYS PERSONAL. it is about the things that really matter which is why the conversation always seems to come back to talking about where we spend our MONEY and how we use our TIME.

            Stewardship is about who we are, what we’ve been given, where we live and our responsibilities as followers of Jesus. In this context we need to say that GOD CARES ABOUT OUR BODIES and he wants US to care about our bodies as well.

            Theologically, we would say that our physical form is part of the creation that God described as GOOD; part of the creation that was broken by sin and part of the creation that Jesus came to redeem. We are not simply organic automatons that we can use and abuse and then toss aside.

            Theologically, there is something important about the “substance” of creation that we may not fully understand, but which stares us in the face every time we read the book. Our heaven, our future home, is described in physical terms. It is a place that has physical dimensions. It is a new earth and new city of God that has walls and streets; a place that is rooted in time and space. Heaven is not just clouds and fog. Heaven is this world (this universe) transformed into what it was always meant to be.

            What we’re saying is that GOD CARES ABOUT HIS CREATION which means that GOD CARES ABOUT OUR BONES and about how we treat or mistreat these bodies we live in every day.

            There are frustrations inherent in being good stewards of our bodies. Like in most things, CARING FOR OUR BODIES WILL BE EASIER FOR SOME PEOPLE AND HARDER FOR OTHERS.

            My parents came from the “life’s not fair” school of thinking and so I was reminded of that every day AND the older I’ve gotten the more I’ve seen that play true. WE have ALL known PEOPLE WHO NEVER exercise; who live on a steady diet of PORK RINDS AND BEER and they never gain even an ounce of excess weight. Some people can spend their whole lives in the sun and never wrinkle and never have a gray hair on their heads. The rest of us are eating soda crackers, going to the health club, taking vitamin D and using Grecian formula. It won’t ever be “fair” but that doesn’t change our responsibility.

            My mother used to tell me that I was “big boned.” That will never change but what I do with these “big bones” is up to me.

            There is another “stewardship” phrase that I think fits in here:

“For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required…” Luke 12:48

            The general principles here are that we are called to care about what God cares about and God cares about us AND as God’s stewards; we are called to use what we’ve been given to give glory to God.

            We need to remember that this isn’t about outward appearance. As we get closer to Jesus we should be learning that GODLY BEAUTY ISN’T ALWAYS PRETTY. God sees us differently than we see ourselves and God is looking more for pretty souls than he is for pretty faces. God wants us to be PRETTY ON THE INSIDE and to have hearts that care about people. He wants us to have hearts that are being shaped by “humility,” “generosity,” “compassion” and “thanksgiving.” I believe that God wants us strong on the outside so WE CAN TAKE THE BEAUTY THAT IS ON THE INSIDE OUT into a world that desperately needs hope.

            This means that all the time I’m spending at the gym is more about “readiness” than it is about “appearances.”

            Now, I would be lying if I said that I didn’t want to look good. I’ve been trying for my entire life to learn to live with the person I see in the mirror and I’m not sure that I ever will, but ultimately I am not lifting weights just to impress SOMEBODY. I’m trying to prepare myself to be in service to this God to whom I owe everything.

            So, we are all called to live out this balance. We are physical creatures. We are also spiritual beings. We need to commit ourselves to caring for both our bodies and our relationship with God. Both are essential to our wholeness and both require our commitment. HEALTH AND GODLINESS BOTH REQUIRE SELF-DISCIPLINE.

The Apostle Paul made a reference to this challenge in his letter to the people in Corinth.

²⁶So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; ²⁷but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.  

1 Corinthians 9:26-27

            I’m not certain that I would use the word “punish” but what he is saying seems fairly clear. He didn’t want anything in his life to become an impediment to his ability to proclaim the Gospel. There is a certain amount of discipline required of us if we are going to be faithful servants.

            Health and Godliness both require that I put aside time to do what I need to do (which, in turn, means that I need to be willing to prioritize my life.) I can’t do everything, I can’t be everywhere, I can’t even accomplish everything I need to do, so I need to focus on the things that are important.

            Bible study, prayer, worship, fellowship and service are the building blocks of a strong spiritual life. Diet and exercise are the building blocks of a strong physical life. Paying attention to these components of wholeness will never be easy, but it will always be important.

            So we all have some decisions to make.

            When I was ordained I was asked one of the historical questions that John Wesley asked all of his preachers: “Are you going on to perfection?”  The correct answer was, “Yes, with God’s help.” What he meant was “are you striving to be all that God wants you to be?” With God’s help, I am but it isn’t easy.

            I try to get to Anytime Fitness in New Berlin at least three times a week. It’s not as often as I would like, but it seems to be the most I can finagle for now. Recently, right next door to Anytime Fitness there opened a place called “The Frozen Ladle” which sells frozen yogurt and which they market as a low-fat alternative to ice cream (which it may, indeed, be) but their advertising actually says that we should all go there because it is good for us. I think that’s what we call (in the religion biz) “temptation.”

            I would like to be able to convince myself that the best thing I could do for my ministry (and the best thing I could do as a steward of God’s things) would be to skip the health club and spend my time at the “Frozen Ladle.” I think that would be a mistake.

            Maybe, sometime I’ll visit the “Frozen Ladle” but if I ever get to that point where I’m spending more time there than I am at Anytime Fitness I think it will be time to re-evaluate my life.

            Are you going on to perfection? Are you striving to be all that God wants you to be?

I think it is fair to say that God wants us to be growing spiritually and that God also wants us to be good stewards of everything we’ve been given which includes the bodies we live with every day.

            Are you going on to perfection? AND what are you going to do about it?