Many people will
tell you that one of the things they like most about CrossFit is the community,
so it is no wonder God has used that to speak to me. However, there are so many other things that God
has used to teach me through CrossFit.
For part 2 of this series, I want to focus on the fact that God has
taught me a great deal about DISCIPLINE and CONSISTENCY. In my mind, these two words complement one
another quite well – in fact I would say, discipline feeds consistency. Thanks to this last year, God has been
teaching me about these two to a great deal and here are some of my thoughts.
Several years ago,
while in seminary, my mentor had challenged me to lose weight. His exact words were, “David – you are fat
and you need to lose weight.” Sounds
harsh huh? He was absolutely right. I had “let myself go,” so to speak and I
needed an honest evaluation and a butt kicking.
He and I decided to work out together and begin working towards a
healthier lifestyle. We put certain
challenges before one another and accompanied with incentives as rewards. During this time, I remember my friends
remarking to me, “You’re so disciplined.”
When someone says this to you, you are tempted to begin believing
it. I really wasn’t disciplined in any
area of my life, much less in my fitness or my spiritual walk. I simply made accommodations to lose some
weight, but I never created lasting habits that would be sustainable. I simply wasn’t as disciplined as I let on to
be, and therefore I wasn’t consistent in my health. In fact for the next couple of years, my
weight was like the Georgia Cyclone at Six Flags, up and down so fast that when
you had a moment to pause…. it left you spinning and looking at your candid
picture wondering if your truly looked that bad or why in the world you felt so
bad.
I am convinced
that for many Christians, including myself (for a long period of time), this is
exactly what our Christian walk looks like.
We simply do not have a disciplined spiritual life. For some of us it’s we are distracted with
the world and for other it’s like I used to argue that discipline leads to
legalism. Whatever the reasons, the
truth is clear in our lack of consistency – we are not healthy beings. By the time we get off the season of the
roller coaster, we pause and look back and do not like the pictures that
portray what we have just experienced.
Quite honestly, my wife and I began to look at pictures of our
experiences together as a married couple, and we began to despise what we saw –
I couldn’t bear to look at myself and well she didn’t like the way I looked
either. (She has always looked
fantastic) So, in her pushing, we began
the CrossFit journey.
God has used
CrossFit to show me that discipline is not a curse word. In fact, discipline is so beneficial to us,
that it really is crazy for us not to embrace it. Many people ask how we continue to get up and
work out at 5am – we simply say, “It’s what we do – we love it.” When I say that, please do not get the idea
that we love getting out of bed – we DON’T.
For me, sleeping is similar to a hobby.
I embrace it, love it, need it, and want it! However, CrossFit has shown me the value of
something greater and for that I will pull myself out of bed each day, drive
myself to the box, and go to work! There are many days I do not FEEL like
getting up, or FEEL like working out, or FEEL like giving my best. However, CrossFit has provided a DISCIPLINE
that demands it. On those days where I
haven’t FELT like it, I can honestly say that when I finished the WOD and was
walking back to the car, I was GLAD that I had shown up – IT WAS WORTH IT!
So I have learned
the value of DISCIPLINE and with this discipline comes CONSISTENCY. When it comes to CrossFit, there is really
not an option. If I am in town, I will
show up. One – because I am paying for
it, but two I miss working out when I am out of town. It has brought extreme value to my life, and
for that we make time. Even in the culture
of CrossFit, there is consistency. Any
box you go to will encourage you to find a time that works for you and to be
consistent with that time. Part of the
reason is the consistent community you have.
There is also the consistent reminder that no one has arrived. We are
all in process together. There are the
coaches who are consistent and even the soreness that is now a consistence in
my life.
So what is the
connection with discipline and consistency in things God has taught me? First
of all, the Gospel demands that we live lives of discipline – not in a
legalistic way, but in a way that says we prepare our bodies for what is most
important. We are running a race as the
apostle Paul describes, and if we want to run faithfully and obtain the prize,
we discipline ourselves. In our
discipline, it should drive us to our Lord with a passion. With CrossFit, I do not show up at the gym or
learn movements so I can check things off a list or to say that I did it. I show up and discipline for a greater
cause. So it is with our spiritual
discipline. We do not exercise
discipline to be legalistic, to say we did something, or even to earn the favor
of God – no - we are disciplined realizing that in seeking the Lord, knowing
the Lord, and growing in the Lord our lives become more in line with what a
disciple of Christ should be. Our
discipline feeds growth and growth in Christ feeds growth for the kingdom. May we pursue to be disciplined disciples who
seek to make disciples and love God passionately!
1 Corinthians
9:24-27 “Do you not know that in
a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you
may obtain it. Every athlete exercises
self-control in all things. They do it
to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as
one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest
after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”
As we experience
and exercise discipline in our spiritual walk, we will undoubtedly become more
consistent. I will never forget the
first moment I heard the prelude to the DC Talk song, “What If I Stumble.” I was a junior in high school who had recently
been saved, and I was sitting in my girlfriend’s car. The following words from Brennan Manning were
read, “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians:
who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their
lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving
world simply finds unbelievable.” Those
words will forever be etched into my mind, and regardless of your thoughts on
them, we all must agree that the church has a consistency problem. Charges of hypocrisy run rampant, and people
long for integrity. Believers, on the
whole, struggle being consistent, and yet this is exactly what the Gospel
demands of us – the Gospel demands integrity – integrity is all about
consistency and believing that what we do every day matters more than what we
do occasionally. I want to be consistent
in my walk with the Lord and for it to be such there must be discipline.
CrossFit has
challenged me to be consistent – to show up faithfully – to work hard
habitually – and to grow continually.
For this I am so grateful. Now if
I can just transfer more of this to my spiritual walk, I will truly be
progressing.
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