That’s not the kind of weights Jesus lifts bro!
or ‘Does your PR really glorify God’?
Are you a Christian that works out? It might surprise you that God probably doesn't celebrate like we do when we get a 100kg Clean and Jerk, deadlift twice our bodyweight or run a 5 minute mile. While we might thank God for our health and these amazing bodies, the truth is that we’ve put in hard work that has built these muscles and skills and our head and everyone around us knows it. So the glory that we say we give to God almost always goes to us. Even if we are humble and recognise God’s hand in our every breath the temptation will always be for our pride to swell in line with our biceps.
Even if we wear a slogan about God’s strength on our chest and point a finger at the sky when we succeed, those that watch us aren’t going to give God the glory. They’ve watched us put in the hours of toil and sweat just like them and so what they see is what they expect — improved physical performance; Cool, but no big deal and certainly not an ‘act of God’.
So the strength we need to display in the gym and on the field of competition that will get the world questioning is how we deal with NOT getting PR’s, with getting injured, with coming last in the workout, or 2nd in the competition. It’s when we deal with these situations with joy, humility and grace that the world gasps and asks how we do it. At this point we can genuinly point to God and say ‘God gave me the strength’. As 2 Corinthians 12:9 says;
‘God’s Strength is made perfect in weakness’
We glorify God when we point to him as our ability to deal with situations outside of our control, where the outcome hasn’t been what we hoped and where the world would normally be struggling to cope without reacting badly.
If you really want to willingly demonstrate God’s strength in the gym then here are a few suggestions:
a/ put down the barbell when you are leading the workout to encourage the newcomer who is struggling,
b/ jump off the rower when you see someone leaving that needs you to love on them,
c/ drop the dumbells when you see the coach on her own and check out how her family are (or heaven forbid you could offer to pray for her!).
These things take uncommon strength because they require you to put self (and your hopes of a possible PR today) to death. Almost everyone is in the gym for themselves and if we as Christians do the same we can never glorify God. Galatians 2:20 says:
‘I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.You see God created that love of the gym in you so that he could get you into place to share Jesus with those around you.
So we’re ‘dead’ then just why are we in the gym? I’m going to save the explanation about the body being the temple of the Holy Spirit for another post, but if thats the case then the least we can do is to look after it. However the point I want to make is about purpose. The Bible teaches that God chose to make you specifically and uniquely you before the creation of the universe. But why you may ask? Well the answer is in Ephesians 2:8-10:
‘For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them’.
God created you and that amazing body you are wearing for service, and even set the scene for you to perform to your best ability. So dying to self doesn't mean neglecting the body or stop being competitive, but seeing your life in fitness for what it is. If working out has become your God and you start to serve the creation not the creator you are really missing the point. You see one day your body is going to start getting slower and weaker and if you’ve invested all your efforts into it, they will prove worthless. You are made for so much more than that. So don’t lift weights — lift people which is what Jesus calls us to do and start focusing on building spiritual muscle — the PR’s they get you will last eternally.