Does Christianity Take Fitness?

A January news report from CBS revealed: According to the results of the survey, published Wednesday on Gallup’s website, a reported 36.1 percent of Americans were considered to be overweight last year, and 26.2 percent were classified as obese.  This is a real crisis. Did you know that there is actually an Obesity Society that is founded to combat this problem? They are asking for their government funds to be doubled so that they can more properly face this epidemic. As physical fitness levels decline, it becomes even harder to take that first step to get back into shape. The lower our fitness levels, the less motivated we are to get our heart rate up and sweat it out. Physical fitness takes discipline and determination. It also takes a lot of fight. The more out of shape you are, the less fight you have. It’s like a catch 22. It’s hard to stay in shape these days. Many of us are so busy that fitting in a workout routine seems like a luxury our schedules cannot afford. So many jobs are sedentary, and between their demands and the busy schedule to come home to with the family, it’s easy to just grab some fast food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You have to educate yourself about all the marketed products out there. Many of the foods at the grocery store that claim to be healthy really are deceiving. And then there are those who are happy to deceive themselves. Buying a Diet Coke with your double bacon steak n’ does not a health conscious person make. Out of Shape Theology: Maybe it isn’t just our bodies that are out of shape. The National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) conducted a study of American teenagers ranging from 13-17. The consensus from Christian Smith and Melinda Denton from NSYR is a collective belief that they have labeled “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism" (MTD). Kenda Creasy Dean reveals and discusses their findings in her book Almost Christian. Here are the “guiding beliefs” of MTD:

1. A god exists who created and orders the world and watches over life on earth.
2. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.
3. The central goal of life is to be happy and feel good about oneself.
4. God is not involved in my life except when I need God to resolve a problem.
5. Good people go to heaven when they die (14).

As you can see, this is a very different faith than Christianity. It is the result of flabby theology. Christianity also involves fitness—theological fitness. In exhorting the Hebrews to persevere in the faith, the preacher to this sermon-letter exclaims, “Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful” (Heb. 10:23). To persevere in the faith we need to hold fast without wavering. That takes fitness. But what is it that we are to hold fast to? Our confession of hope. The confession above will not do. There’s nothing to hold fast to there. The One Who is Fit: We can only hold fast because God is faithful. His Son was the only One with the fitness to atone for our sins. He has done all the work for our righteousness. The above confession isn’t good news at all for a sinner like me. Diet Christianity is no Christianity. The good news is that although we were lost in our sin and children of God’s wrath, he sent us a Savior, God’s own Son, who descended to earth, was born in a manger, fulfilled all righteousness, and bore our curse on a tree. Three days later, he rose again. After that, he ascended to the right hand of the Father as the advocate of all those who are united to him by faith. While we wait for his blessed return, believers are given the seal of his Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Godhead, who transforms our heart, mind, and spirit, even as our bodies age and decay. Due to Christ’s fitness, we now have peace with God, true joy based on the hope of our eternal abode with him, and true expectation for new incorruptible bodies that will be lived in perfect worship of our Savior on the new heavens and new earth. After the exhortation to persevere, the preacher to the Hebrews gives them a fitness illustration, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (12:1-2). Only Jesus had the fitness for the cross, but because of him, believers are qualified for the Christian life of faith and obedience. This is our confession of hope. Just like maintaining physical fitness, Christian perseverance takes fight. Faith to believe is a gift, but it is a fighting grace. There is no diet version. Grasp this confession with your mind, your heart, with all your faculties, and do not let go.