I know, I know – You’re thinking that Christians always believe they’re so much better than everyone else. Far from it, right?! But, take a moment to consider how life in Christ IS better. Think about how compared to just doing you’re own thing, even when you do it well, simply adding 1 thing – being a living sacrifice, makes what you do more robust and transforms you and the outcomes. The fitness culture needs you to quit sweating the sacrifice and mind your business. You can – you better! Here is how the Christian lifestyle is better.
So no, this isn’t a promise (a fantasy) that with God and a scant posing suit you’re guaranteed to win a bodybuilding competition. To say that loving Jesus and others is going to make you super happy, more fit, with stronger muscles, feeling great, looking amazing and living longer isn’t where I’m going with this either. Ok, maybe it will but that’s not what this is about. And to think that fitness is really about that is to objectify fitness. The fitness lifestyle is beneficial, stimulating, a passion even an obsession for many and most certainly a journey for all but it can never be who you are. It isn’t you. If your self-identity is first and foremost fitness you may be several things but you’re certainly not ‘fit’. And, you’re certainly not fit to be influencing others.
LET THIS MIND BE IN YOU
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In the fitness culture there is a lot pushing you (people, products, programs and places). They are all perceptions of what fitness can and should be. Everyday you see those who have the physique of a God and loudly live a lifestyle of being their own God. They eat the very best food, wear the most flattering clothing, get more done by 7am than some do in a day, have a workout routine that is mind blowing, they’re satisfied and confident. AND – they have the followers to prove it.
But, here is how the Christian lifestyle is better: You still workout but now you also workout your own salvation with fear and trembling. You practice and demonstrate responsive obedience. This is a better lifestyle because it calls you to be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. You continually think like Christ. He set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave – He became human!
Those who embrace a fitness lifestyle usually find pleasure in it. Often they don’t just find the pleasure – they embrace it. When you truly prioritize Christ you’ll come to understand how the Christian lifestyle is better. It’s full of energy. That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.
See the difference? Instead of insatiably seeking pleasure, persistently pursue God.
PART 1 DONE – HERE’S PART 2
So, having the mind of Christ is better than just doin’ my thing. By a long shot it’s better and more robust, for you. But that ‘better’ gets even better yet! Here’s how:
God wants you to be a living sacrifice – giving something of value for the sake of someone else. Here’s what God wants you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life— (and every aspect of your fitness lifestyle too) and place it before God as an offering.
This dramatically transforms fitness from being primarily a self-centered activity to you pursuing God and being others minded. That transformation in and of itself makes your fitness lifestyle really strong and powerful. But don’t look at the Christian lifestyle as simply the better way to be strong and powerful.
Being a living sacrifice and being others-minded from God’s perspective isn’t Effective Altruism – where one pursues ethical life-optimization, effective giving, combining empathy with evidence and focusing on the most promising solutions. The difference may seem like they should be subtle but dig into the Bible and you’ll find that the Christian lifestyle requires faith. At some point or another – and likely pretty early in your journey toward being stronger in Christ and more powerful for God you’ll find that being obedient and being a living sacrifice requires you to NOT be reasonable or figure out the best way to follow through.
The Christian lifestyle is better not because of what you can do but only because of Christ.
Sarah Chodosh in Popular Science talks about the mystery of physical fitness this way, “Exercise builds muscle—we just don’t really know why.” She goes on to share about the discovery of titin molecules and the relatively new discovery of the role they play in muscle growth.
As mysterious as it may seem to be, having the mind of Christ and being a living sacrifice are more like physical exercise than we realize. The more time you’re being obedient to God the more His Spirt can bind to the exposed parts of your spirit triggering growth.
Listen to this Morning Mindset podcast by Carey Green about how to be a living sacrifice.
