Being Spiritually Fit
Since we’ve begun to scratch the surface of physical fitness, it’s only appropriate that we also take a look at what it means to be spiritually fit, if in fact there is such a thing. At first glance never once does the bible use the word fitness. In Luke 9:62 we get about as close as it comes when Jesus says, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is FIT for service in the kingdom of God.” Which is a great verse and one that I would like to spend an entire post on in the future so we’ll skip over that for now. That leaves us with not a whole lot to work with. If however we do a quick search of synonyms for fitness “health” and “good health” both come up. I’d like to suggest that there are 3 things that keep us spiritually healthy in our walk with the Lord.
The first of those things is our diet or what we are putting into our bodies. In Matthew 4 before Jesus gives his sermon on the mount he is out in the desert to be tempted by Satan. Jesus hasn’t eaten for 40 days (here the bible says, “he’s hungry” seems obvious enough) and Satan comes to him and tries to get him to make some bread out of rocks. Jesus replies, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” In a time when Jesus probably wanted real physical food more than ever he seems to relate our need for the word of God to our need for food. Most of us, especially if your sitting in front of a computer right now, probably have enough means that we eat 2-3 meals a day. For some of us that’s not even enough, because if your anything like me you eat in between those meals too! If we were limited to 1 meal day in the morning or evening, or even 1 meal every few days most of would be starving, complaining, and likely not able to function to take care of daily tasks at home, work, or school. So what does that mean for our spiritual food or “word of God?” I’m not going to give a prescription of how often or long we should be in the bible every day or every week but I will say we have a need that is pretty clear and that is to be in the word of God. Joshua 1:8 sums it up very nicely, “meditate on it day and night.”
The second practice for spiritual health is prayer. Prayer on so many levels is integral to our spiritual health. Prayer changes our perspective on ourselves and the world around us. Prayer is our open line of communication with the one who has created us, and redeemed us. It is through prayer that we can glorify and praise, that we confess of our shortcomings and sins, and that we give thanks. It is by prayer that we present our wants and needs before a loving aand relational God. The bible speaks volumes about prayer. In Mark 1:35 Jesus himself gets up early in morning to go pray. Later in Mark 6:46 he departs to a mountain to pray and in Luke 5:16 he goes the wilderness to pray. If Jesus in his humanity who is one with God needs to pray, there is certainly something to be said about our need as humans to pray. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 makes it short and to the point, “pray continually.”
The last, and certainly not least, practice for the upkeep of our spiritual selves is church. You can call it corporate worship, you can call it sunday gathering, or whatever you want but coming together with other believers is necessary to our individual spiritual health. As a pastor of youth and family ministries it was hard listening to people who told me instead of going to a corporate worship gathering that they did church in their car with the local christian radio station, or they enjoyed church by themselves and a bible out in God’s creation. I don’t at all mean to discount personal time with God. DO IT! I love being alone in the mountains just me and God but it doesn’t take the place of worshipping together. The corporate gathering is a place where we can gather with people to know and be known. It’s a place where people deal with the same struggles and sins. It’s the place where we get to see the dynamic of the body of Christ that is laid out in the second half of 1 Corinthians 12 lived out.
These three practices are by no means a comprehensive list of what it is to be spiritually healthy. They are however a jumping off point we can utilize to become more and better equipped spiritually to live healthy as followers of Jesus.
What is Fitness?
What is fitness? How do you define fitness? Who is the fittest person on earth? There are just about as many definitions of fitness as there are people trying to define it. For years fitness in my world was about getting to the gym 3-4 times a week, doing a little running here a there when I felt motivated, and trying to get in a few games of pick up basketball. Since then I have come to what I believe to be a much better understanding of what fitness is.
Over the next few months we’ll take a look at some of the various ways to understand what being fit is. Each of the models of fitness that we’ll take a look at can be found in a great article by Crossfit founder Greg Glassman called “What is Fitness.” The first Crossfit standard of fitness (which I adhere to) are the 10 recognized general physical skills. Those skills include but are not limited to; cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy. This is certainly not a comprehensive list of physical skills but it does give us a great framework to start to develop a good and overarching definition of what it means to be fit. Glassman suggests that, “you are as fit as you are competent in each of these ten skills.” Which means contrary to fitness pop culture running a 100 mile ultra marathon, although an impressive feat of the human mind and body, leaves the potential to succeed and yet be sorely lacking in 7 or 8 of the physical skills that define fitness. The same can just as easily be said of a power lifter who can bench press twice his weight and dead lift 3 times his weight, although again impressive, is able to succeed with no competence in the majority of the 10 physical skills used to define fitness. The incredible thing is rarely do we ever see programming or a regimen designed in such a way that it affects us broadly enough to touch on anywhere near all 10 of those physical skills. We will be delving into the topic of fitness and how to define it more holistically in the near future, but what are your thoughts? How do you define fitness? Who are the fittest athletes on earth?
