I once heard a pastor say, as he was getting into the sermon, “Now, hang with me, I’m working it out.”
And, sure enough, there’s many a biblical text over which we have to labor and work out our understandings and applications for life each day. Obviously, there is a dynamic of discipline required for the study of Scripture and the living it out.
Tony Tench
Recently, while working the front desk on the early shift at our local YMCA, I heard members exchange greetings. The one coming in said, “I hope you had a good workout.” The one heading out the door said the thing that made me think. He replied, “Oh yeah, went well. The gym ought to be like church — you feel better when you leave!”
It’s true he made his comment after just leaving the steam room. Nevertheless, his upbeat and joyful response put me to considering the flip side of his reply. As Christ followers and church leaders continue to work out Jesus’ call to discipleship through congregational life, perhaps “the church ought to be like the gym.”
So, here are a few observations from the front desk as to how that might be so.
Expect peace. Even though the church might not be equipped with a steam room, feeling better when we leave church ought to be an expectation. Gideon’s name for God was “The Lord is Peace.” Isaiah looked forward to the coming of Messiah who would be known as “The Prince of Peace.” The angels announced the birth of Jesus singing, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace.” Jesus promised us, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.”
Anytime we can gather together in God’s presence to be assured of his peace, we sure enough ought to feel better when we leave.
“Anytime we can gather together in God’s presence to be assured of his peace, we sure enough ought to feel better when we leave”
Watch out for others. Pumping iron and crushing a Stairmaster also comes with getting to know the people who are in the room with you. Workout partners encourage one another with high-fives and fist bumps. They cheer for one another as progress is made. They miss one another when someone is out for illness or grief.
Paul’s letters let us know that he, too, was a “body builder” as he wrote, “In Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Keeping our eyes out for one another with compassion and concern in our hearts is how the church ought to be like the gym.
Encourage one another. Small groups build confidence in skill development. Whether it’s pickleball or water aerobics or line dancing, the groups that gather at their assigned times spur one another on to improve their games and enhance wellness. The writer of Hebrews knew group building was what we need as congregations writing, “Spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” Small groups gathering around the Bible provide encouragement in the skills of loving and serving with Jesus’ love.
Stretch your faith. There’s obviously a lot of muscle flexing happening in the gym with folks rotating upper, lower and core muscle group work with cardio exertion. Likewise, congregational life includes stretching our faith life through worship, Bible study, service in the church, ministry in the community and mission around the world. The strength of the church comes as believers work each of these muscle groups in God’s kingdom work.
Welcome all. The gym doors are open to everyone. Every day there is a mix of ages, races, genders, politics, amateurs and triathletes. Everyone is at a different pace in their fitness routine, but they are all at the same place to “get it done.”
I’ve heard the Baptists checking on the WMU meeting, the Episcopalians discussing Epiphany, and I’ve noticed foreheads bearing the imposition of ashes as members come in from an early Ash Wednesday mass. It’s encouraging to see such diversity at the gym. Jesus’ call to love our neighbors as ourselves compels the church doors to open wide as well.
Lead with grace. In the gym there’s not just one way to do the work — TRX, free weights, weight machines, swimming, walking, running, spinning, Tabata, line dancing, Zumba, HIIT, sports, Pilates, racquetball, yoga on mats or in chairs, just to name a few. But whatever way they choose, these folks are doing the work.
“We do well to remember there’s not just one way, one expression, one plan for the work of congregational life.”
In the church, we do well to remember there’s not just one way, one expression, one plan for the work of congregational life. Even so, there is “one body and one spirit, just as we have been called to one hope when we were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” If Paul was right to put it that way, then we ought to lead with grace toward one another as we critique and strategize how to be Jesus’ church these days.
Stay on mission. Our gym is the YMCA, and it lives with a mission to make a difference in the community by encouraging building of healthy spirit, mind and body for all. The “for all” part means there’s a regular focus on those who are not there yet. Whether they are members on the inside or folks who never have come to workout, there is always a next step in spirit, mind and body health for all of us.
That being so, we cannot be comfortable with where we are or what we have accomplished. There’s more to do. Likewise, as congregational life requires us to move in many directions simultaneously, we ought to keep ourselves focused on mission. We ought not get comfortable with our routines. In fact, discomfort is at the heart of the gospel’s call upon our lives.
Enlist coaches. Every day I witness a team of knowledgeable people who give instruction on equipment and who lead all flavors of exercise classes. These good folks are coaches toward individual growth but none of them can do the work for you. Each person has to apply themselves to tasks. This is true of congregational life as well. Pastors and teachers have been given to the church to instruct and equip the members of the body toward maturity. As they do, it is for each of us to apply that instruction to the way we live our lives.
Be disciplined. Sometimes “discipline” is a hard word to hear and one we would just as soon avoid. At the gym, though, I see the same people showing up at the same times every day for their workouts. That discipline shows, too, in their endurance, confidence and health.
“Spiritual discipline is a path that keeps congregational life fit and fulfilling.”
Spiritual discipline is a path that keeps congregational life fit and fulfilling. Our embrace of formation practices keeps us connected to centuries of spiritual discipline and moving in the right direction as we engage the challenges of a 21st-century world while being formed into the image of Jesus.
Be flexible. Flexibility in spirit as well as in muscle is a part of life at the gym. I answer the phone daily with folks wanting to know the temperature of the water in the pool. Competitive swimmers love it at 81 degrees. The friends who gather for water exercise class love to hear 85 and 86 degrees.
We all have our preferences, for sure. Even so, in the life of the church, we can give up a few degrees of preference for the sake of our common mission to share Jesus with the world.
Work hard. Of course, sometimes you don’t feel better when you leave the gym. I hear the comments: “That workout kicked me today,” “I am so sore today after yesterday’s workout,” “No pain, no gain.”
This element of pain also accompanies our worship in the church. The reality of our sin and the confession that comes as we face that reality is never a comfortable place to be. And yet, with our confession of sin there comes the assurance of God’s forgiveness as we hold bread and wine in our hands and remember the pain Jesus experienced in his dying for us. And then, we can say, on the other side of confession, when we leave church we do feel better in the depths of our hearts.
Be pacesetters. Then, too, the gym can be like the church in that we wish more people actually used the gym. Time pressures keep us from getting to the gym on a regular basis, or at all, and some folks just stop coming.
“The reality of our sin and the confession that comes as we face that reality is never a comfortable place to be.”
Sadly, congregational life faces a similar disappointment. The fields are still “white unto harvest.” We can live in constant discouragement about this reality. However, we can also choose to embrace our role as pacesetters in the spiritual race at the heart of human existence.
Undeterred, we keep running the race Jesus laid out for us knowing that as we lift him up, he will draw all people to himself.
Do what you can do. I find encouragement from a 93-year-old swimmer who hits the pool three days a week without fail. She still swims in competitions and now she breaks her own records since there are few folks in her age category. I asked her about her last competition, and she replied, “I have all the records except the 200 butterfly, and I’m not going to get it!”
That’s pretty good! She works hard at what she can do, and she just doesn’t worry about not being able to do it all.
Churches can learn from her attitude — a specific church ought to focus on living into the vision Jesus gives to them and not worry about being like another church. Sure, we learn from one another as much as we can, but no one church can do it all and we need not be bothered by that.
Yes, we pray for congregations as they hang in there with Jesus and work out his call upon our days. On the way our neighbors will see Jesus’ light in our stride and hear from our sweat-salted lips, “Come join us at church, you’ll feel better when you leave!”
Tony Tench works with the Lakelands Region YMCA of South Carolina and is former pastor of First Baptist Church of Shelby, N.C., and interim pastor of Poplar Springs Baptist Church in Shelby. He and his wife, Janet, enjoying living near their daughter’s family and serving with them at NewSpring Church in Greenwood, S.C.