Introduction
First, let me state that I’m a Christian. Unapologetically. I believe in some form of what the church would call “orthodoxy” (though I may disagree on the mechanics of how that orthodoxy functions in both practice and motivation).
Second, there are lots of Christian traditions, so let me issue the disclaimer that I don’t presume to speak for all, or even most of those traditions. But I will speak from the faith tradition in which I was raised. My tradition paid no attention to the physical body, except to imply that anything physical was somehow “dirty” or second rate in comparison to the “spiritual”. After all, one day the body would die and my “spirit” would be whisked away to a disembodied heaven somewhere in the clouds to be with God (queue harps and angel wings)(also, I have problems with this whole concept of an afterlife). This would seem to put spirituality at odds with physical fitness. I’ll attempt to address that false dichotomy in this paper.
Third, I wish to define what I mean by “fitness”. If by fitness your mind goes straight to “looking good naked”, or becoming an Instagram model, then I’d say that your idea of fitness, while partially correct, is incomplete. I’ve heard Dan John say that fitness is simply the ability to do a task. One example from my own life is being ready and able at any time to step onto a rugby field. I train so that I am always “fit” to the task of playing rugby. Running, eating well, and resistance training help me stay fit for rugby, but a side benefit is that my wife thinks I look good naked (unless she’s lying to protect my feelings), and people ask me for six-pack advice. One of the larger barriers to a seeming incompatibility between fitness and Christian spirituality is the purely aesthetic definition of fitness. A culture of humility (Christianity) seems to be at odds with human aesthetic beauty, though, some would argue, beauty itself is a gift given by God.
Finally, I’d like to explain what I mean by “Spiritual Discipline”. This is a practice, or set of practices, that connects you to God and his desire and purpose for you. Some traditional spiritual disciplines include prayer, fasting, service, humility, etc. I’ve never yet seen physical training listed among the classic spiritual disciplines, though it may be listed somewhere I’m not aware of. In this post I will argue that training for physical fitness brings us closer to knowing God and carrying out his purposes for us and his world.
Fitness is Loving God
It’s easy to think of the Christian scriptures as a set of confusing rules, starting in the Garden of Eden (Don’t eat that apple!), then on to the “Big 10” (the Ten Commandments), moving on the “Golden Rule” in the Gospels and finally several obtuse rules about sexuality and marriage later in the New Testament. But the Bible is far deeper than a rule book and tells a marvelous story. Within this story we find a relationship between the creation, humans as a part of that creation, and God. This relationship morphs over time. One of the most interesting examples is in the way we see the concept of temple and worship throughout scripture. I’ll try to examine this briefly.
The creation story, far from attempting a scientific-historical telling of how the universe came into being, tells of a God who creates a temple: a garden set apart in the midst of the earth where God himself comes to walk. Like most temples, an image of the God is placed there, but instead of an idol made of wood or stone, the image is…human! The human is there to represent God within the creation-temple as His servant, steward, priest. When humans make the decision to go against God’s design of stewardship, they are forced to leave the temple (Eden).
In the second act of the temple, God once again selects a people (Abraham’s descendants), rescues them from slavery in Egypt, and delivers them to represent him among the other nations as “a nation of priests”. At this time, he instructs them to build a temple called the “tabernacle” (also called the “tent of meeting”) where appointed priests could meet with God to intercede on behalf of the people. Once the people become rooted in their own land, a permanent structure was built in Jerusalem, and in a literal “blaze of glory”, God’s spirit comes to dwell in the new temple. This presence is not to remain permanent, however. Because the people of Israel once again fail to live up to faithful stewardship on God’s behalf, God’s spirit leaves the temple (with a promise to one day return).
In Act Three, God comes back to the temple, but this time in the embodiment of perfect human stewardship, Jesus the Messiah (John 1:14). All the gospel stories (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) tell at least one episode of Jesus entering and reclaiming the temple on God’s behalf. At the death of Jesus, however, the temple is shaken by an earthquake, the curtain dividing humans and the divine is mysteriously, miraculously torn in two, and we’re left wondering, where is God now? Where does this leave the temple?
Finally, in an amazing theological twist, the Apostle Paul tells us the fate of the temple and God’s presence: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” (1 Cor. 6:19). The Spirit – the part of God that inhabited the tabernacle and the temple in Jerusalem, the spirit that anointed Jesus the Messiah – has come to take up residence in the hearts and minds – and bodies! – of those who follow Jesus! This spirit, by the way, is the wise counselor who guides Christians and instructs them in how to wisely steward creation on God’s behalf. Our story has come full circle.
With that very long story in mind, imagine you are the janitor or director of maintenance at your local corner church building (it’s not a temple, but play along). What would you need to do to be sure that it was open and ready for business? You’d want to keep it clean, I’m sure. You’d want all the doors, windows, electricity, plumbing, air conditioning all kept up and in good service. If you had a ministry feeding homeless folks, you’d want the refrigerator cold and the stove hot. You’d want tables and chairs fit for scores of people to sit comfortably and enjoy a hearty meal. I’ve known many church janitors. The pride they take in cleaning, repairing, and preparing the physical place of worship is often their own personal act of worship.
Now if the temple is you, what do you need to do to be fit for wise stewardship of the bit of creation that God has given you influence over? I think all the big rocks of physical fitness apply here: a nutritious diet of whole food, physical training including resistance and aerobic exercise, and adequate sleep would all be included. You’d probably exclude excessive alcohol, caffeine, junk food, and stress.
Now think of a dilapidated building that hasn’t been maintained out of thoughtless neglect, sheer laziness, or cheap thrift; the grass hasn’t been cut, the leaky roof has stained the ceilings and molded the carpets, burnt-out light bulbs haven’t been replaced. It’s dishonoring to the people who come to gather, and it’s to dishonoring God. When neglect, laziness and cheap thrift leak into our physical lives it manifests itself in poor-quality processed food, lack of exercise, and excessive alcohol or caffeine use, resulting in diabetes, heart disease, obesity: a general un-fitness for the work of God’s kingdom.
Don’t get me wrong: you don’t have to be a follower of Jesus to desire and pursue physical fitness. But I believe pursuing fitness as a means to connect with God and his purposes injects additional meaning into what you’re doing, and why. It is a way of loving your creator.
Fitness is Serving People
Let me tell a personal story.
Several years ago, just after I had rediscovered a fitness training regimen, our family went on a short-term mission trip. The time centered around living and working alongside physically and mentally disabled children in a summer camp. The organization we worked with did all they could to provide the normal summer camp experiences for kids who – you would think – couldn’t possibly enjoy them: swimming, jumping on trampolines, acting in skits. It was amazing. But several times during that week I found myself being used and abused because I was “fit”. I’ve never been as tired as I was after an afternoon of jumping on trampolines with child after child in tandem. These kids didn’t have the physical dexterity or movement ability to jump by themselves. I was their legs and feet. The same was true on swim day. I became the arms and legs of kids who would never be able to swim on their own. My fitness allowed me to serve them.
Less sensational opportunities to serve others include moving strangers and friends more times than I can count and hours of yard work, landscaping, and home repair.
Christianity is not a spectator sport. Christians are called to a life of service; it’s part of our stewardship of creation. Being fit opens doors to the care of creation and others.
Fitness is Loving Your Neighbor
When asked what the “greatest commandment” in scripture was, Jesus replied “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”. Then Jesus added, “And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself”.
Love God, love others (and – by implication – love yourself). There is nothing more important in the life of a follower of Jesus.
If I love my neighbor, I want them to have the freedom to pursue their interests and happiness. I want them to be able to spend their time and money in a way that brings them their greatest joy. I want them to have peace of mind and freedom from unnecessary stress. When I am unfit, when I am unhealthy because of poor diet and exercise choices, then I impose the costs of my choices on my closest friends and relatives, and even society in general.
I have seen and experienced the costs of poor lifestyle habits up close as my mother-in-law cared for her mother through eleven years of Alzheimer’s disease and through my own mother as she has cared for my father through his dementia and diabetes. It would be one thing if our choices only affected us; the reality, however, is that often they affect deeply those we claim to love the most. Men, do we want our wives to bear the financial cost of insulin, hospitalizations, or long-term care related to diabetes, heart disease, cancer or Alzheimer’s? Do we want the legacy we leave our kids to be a solid financial base or the memories of having to change our adult diapers?
Let’s move beyond the more intimate results of our diet and exercise choices to the more “invisible” consequences. The costs of poor health spill over to society at large. The STOP Obesity Alliance out of George Washington University estimates that the costs of obesity in the United States range from $147 billion to nearly $210 billion per year.[1] (Wow!) If costs continue their current trajectory they could be as high as $580 billion by 2030. In an ideal world that money would be better spent on sanitation, education and poverty. Protecting the vulnerable. Loving our neighbors.
Conclusion
Modern Western philosophy and religion tend to compartmentalize parts of our life like a pie with “spirituality” as merely a piece of the overall whole. But Eastern Judeo/Christian tradition insists that everything is spiritual; every action and decision you make emanates from the spirit inside you. Think of spirituality as the pie filling that infuses each piece with sweet goodness (I realize the irony of writing about pie in a treatise on health, but I love a good cherry pie!)
Wendell Berry says that “eating is an agricultural act”. I would argue that it is also a spiritual act. So, too, is the way you spend your money, how you do your work and how you care for your body. Being “fit” to do the work of the kingdom flows from an appreciation of the creation that you are and who created you, and then flows out of you as you serve and love others. Christians, let’s be more intentional about how we treat the “temple” God has created.
[1] “Fast Facts: The Cost of Obesity”, STOP Obesity Alliance, https://stop.publichealth.gwu.edu/sites/stop.publichealth.gwu.edu/files/documents/Fast%20Facts%20Cost%20of%20Obesity.pdf