Body Building
Body Building
It doesn’t take a person long to figure out I’m not a body builder. Nor am I much of a gym guy. It’s a pretty obvious characteristic to see about me. Not that brawn is all bad, but the brain needs a workout too. In fact, Paul says it this way in his first letter to Timothy, “physical exercise is of some value.”
These later years of my thirties got me thinking about the physical body and how I want to change. Which, of course, led me to the thoughts about growing the body of Christ and the correlation between the two. There are several similarities that I’d like to discuss in hopes of challenging us all to grow ourselves so that we can, in turn, grow the Kingdom.
Internet and social media are flooded with fitness nuts and gurus. All of them preach their own thoughts, plans, workouts, diets, successes, and failures. Each one has their own wisdom as to why they are right and others are not. Sounds an awful lot like the church world doesn’t it?
One thing that I will say about the body building community (and other fitness communities) is their emphasis on exactly that - community. They really do stick together. And for that, I think they should be celebrated. They are all in different places on their fitness journey; yet they challenge and encourage each other to push past and press on. Also sounds a lot like the church world.
And for many, the gym state-of-mind is one that stays with them. For example, there’s a popular saying among those in fitness that “you can’t outwork a bad diet.” Body building is a mindset and an approach to life in every aspect of life. Sounds a lot like the church world should be.
Every part of what we do impacts how and if we grow - including the Kingdom. “You can’t outwork a bad diet” also works in the church world. What you consume you become. The content that you consume will consume you. The Bible says that out of the abundance or overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. If you want to know what content a person is consuming, listen to what they are saying. What you consume will eventually come out. Why? Because you can’t outwork a bad diet. You can’t out-spiritualize a poor spiritual diet.
Body builders meticulously measure every ounce and gram of what they consume and put into their bodies. This is exactly how I think the Christian community should approach content. I know I need to. Taking Paul’s thoughts in 1 Corinthians 10:23 about all things being permissible but not all things are beneficial may be justified but unproductive. I think oftentimes we focus too heavily on the “all things are permissible” and not nearly enough on the “but not all things are beneficial.” Just because we can doesn’t mean we should.
Interestingly enough, there are three similarities between building the body and building the body of Christ. And in both circumstances, it requires intense intentionality. Nothing is done without intention. Nothing is done without purpose. It’s deliberate on purpose, for purpose, with purpose. That’s how the success is created - dedication with intentionality.
Every interaction is intentional.
Every conversation is intentional.
Every altercation is intentional.
Everything we do is intentional, with purpose, for a purpose. Every interaction we have with others should be to show the love of Christ just as much or more than we speak the love of Christ. Every interaction will leave with a positive or negative reaction. Every interaction is an opportunity if we take it.
Every conversation we have with others should be intentional. Every word we speak should be intentional and thought out. They shouldn’t be idle or lifeless or loveless. They should have movement and power and passion.
Every altercation we have with others could bring the alteration they need in their lives. Just because someone else loses their cool and raises their voice because they disagree with you doesn’t mean you have to give it back. Yes, I think it’s a shame that culturally we are losing the ability to disagree well - to disagree with civility. No one wins an argument but the truth spoken in love will always prevail.
So go and do and speak and show, but do it all in love. Not what you think is love but what He says is love. The kind of love that He applies towards us. Give the kind of grace you wish to receive the next time you fail at perfectionism.
The world needs truth. Absolutely. But the world needs truth wrapped in grace and love. And sometimes it’s a long process. Just like growing muscle and getting stronger for the body builder. Body building is not without growing pains. Growing pains gets the gains.
There’s growing pains in the body of Christ as well. We won’t always agree on everything simply because we all agree on a Savior. And that’s ok - as long as it is done with the grace and love that Christ poured out for us - while we were yet sinners. Saints are just sinners who found the Savior. Just like you… and me…
It doesn’t take a person long to figure out I’m not a body builder. Nor am I much of a gym guy. It’s a pretty obvious characteristic to see about me. Not that brawn is all bad, but the brain needs a workout too. In fact, Paul says it this way in his first letter to Timothy, “physical exercise is of some value.”
These later years of my thirties got me thinking about the physical body and how I want to change. Which, of course, led me to the thoughts about growing the body of Christ and the correlation between the two. There are several similarities that I’d like to discuss in hopes of challenging us all to grow ourselves so that we can, in turn, grow the Kingdom.
Internet and social media are flooded with fitness nuts and gurus. All of them preach their own thoughts, plans, workouts, diets, successes, and failures. Each one has their own wisdom as to why they are right and others are not. Sounds an awful lot like the church world doesn’t it?
One thing that I will say about the body building community (and other fitness communities) is their emphasis on exactly that - community. They really do stick together. And for that, I think they should be celebrated. They are all in different places on their fitness journey; yet they challenge and encourage each other to push past and press on. Also sounds a lot like the church world.
And for many, the gym state-of-mind is one that stays with them. For example, there’s a popular saying among those in fitness that “you can’t outwork a bad diet.” Body building is a mindset and an approach to life in every aspect of life. Sounds a lot like the church world should be.
Every part of what we do impacts how and if we grow - including the Kingdom. “You can’t outwork a bad diet” also works in the church world. What you consume you become. The content that you consume will consume you. The Bible says that out of the abundance or overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. If you want to know what content a person is consuming, listen to what they are saying. What you consume will eventually come out. Why? Because you can’t outwork a bad diet. You can’t out-spiritualize a poor spiritual diet.
Body builders meticulously measure every ounce and gram of what they consume and put into their bodies. This is exactly how I think the Christian community should approach content. I know I need to. Taking Paul’s thoughts in 1 Corinthians 10:23 about all things being permissible but not all things are beneficial may be justified but unproductive. I think oftentimes we focus too heavily on the “all things are permissible” and not nearly enough on the “but not all things are beneficial.” Just because we can doesn’t mean we should.
Interestingly enough, there are three similarities between building the body and building the body of Christ. And in both circumstances, it requires intense intentionality. Nothing is done without intention. Nothing is done without purpose. It’s deliberate on purpose, for purpose, with purpose. That’s how the success is created - dedication with intentionality.
Every interaction is intentional.
Every conversation is intentional.
Every altercation is intentional.
Everything we do is intentional, with purpose, for a purpose. Every interaction we have with others should be to show the love of Christ just as much or more than we speak the love of Christ. Every interaction will leave with a positive or negative reaction. Every interaction is an opportunity if we take it.
Every conversation we have with others should be intentional. Every word we speak should be intentional and thought out. They shouldn’t be idle or lifeless or loveless. They should have movement and power and passion.
Every altercation we have with others could bring the alteration they need in their lives. Just because someone else loses their cool and raises their voice because they disagree with you doesn’t mean you have to give it back. Yes, I think it’s a shame that culturally we are losing the ability to disagree well - to disagree with civility. No one wins an argument but the truth spoken in love will always prevail.
So go and do and speak and show, but do it all in love. Not what you think is love but what He says is love. The kind of love that He applies towards us. Give the kind of grace you wish to receive the next time you fail at perfectionism.
The world needs truth. Absolutely. But the world needs truth wrapped in grace and love. And sometimes it’s a long process. Just like growing muscle and getting stronger for the body builder. Body building is not without growing pains. Growing pains gets the gains.
There’s growing pains in the body of Christ as well. We won’t always agree on everything simply because we all agree on a Savior. And that’s ok - as long as it is done with the grace and love that Christ poured out for us - while we were yet sinners. Saints are just sinners who found the Savior. Just like you… and me…
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