Church of Gym

I was recently sent this by my agnostic, gym going brother-in-law and it got me thinking…….

“Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be your name. The gains will come, thy will be done, on a bench, at a 45 degree incline. Give us this whey, our creatine and amimos and forgive us our curls, as we do them in the squat rack. And lead us not into crossfit, but deliver us from cardio. For these are our gains,the muscle and the veins, forever and ever. Amen”

My brother-in-law, like the majority of people in our society are horrified by the concept of coming to church on a Sunday morning. 

They view the church as a money making institution, seeking to exploit people in their weakness, and in return the naive members sit amoungst judging eyes of the congregation, whilst being shouted at by a scary man, telling them they are sinners and instructing them how to lead a better life and “live for ever”. 

Our modern society views us Christians as crazy religious freaks. We live a life quashed by our religion, waisting many hours exersicing our faith, waking up early to pray and digest the Bible whilst attending regular meetings at church.

I can see where they are coming from and somewhat sympathise with many of these views, if in fact church was anything like what they claim (which it is not). 

But what is more shocking in light of such rhetoric is that many people with such a view attend a gym!

The fitness industry (unlike the church) is ran by multinational corporations, in the UK alone it is worth £4.4billion and welcomes 9.2million members. Many go religiously, exploited by their weakness, to exercise among the judging gaze of the sculpted few. Whilst being screamed at by a personal trainer, telling them they are not good enough. They work hard in vain to live a healthier life, to fit imposed image ideals and to fight against the aging process. 

Each day gym enthusiasts religiously get up early to prepare meals for specific calorie intake and to digest PROTEIN. They regularly attend sessions throughout the week at the gym to make the most of their extortionate membership fees and may even take in a medative yoga session to!

I understand I am generalising the “church of gym”, just as many generalise the church of Christ. I suppose this is my point, as I try to highlight the hypocrisy.

I do not write this post to be cynicial, but out of a genuine concern for all those who have gone to the gym this weekend and  have not attended church, those who have chosen to deny God in their vain plight to delay death. Because at Death they will meet God, and despite their regular attendance at the “church of gym”, they will not be able to stand under His judgement and will consequently be damned by their choices!

God does not care about how many bench presses you can do, but where your heart is! You may be able to run marathons, or have 5% body fat, but without Jesus Christ in your life, at your inevitable death, you have no hope.

Please know that I am not condeming a desire to keep fit and healthy, it is a wise thing to do and biblical, but this should not be done at the cost of your soul! 

If you are willing to live your life religiously serving the idol of your body at the “church of gym”, coming to church for just an hour a week to learn about how your creator God can give you life eternal in Jesus Christ is certainly worthwile!

A rigorous morning at Victoria Village School

I have just returned from a wonderful morning at Victoria Village school.

As ever I was warmly welcomed with smiles from both the children and staff (partly because I am funny to look at).

As regular readers may know, I am a proud governor of the school and had reason to be there in that capacity, but I was also asked to go and speak to the year 6 class about our worship practice as a church and the differences between Christianity and Judaism.

These are huge topics I know, but I tried to keep my presentation as light as possible, so not to engage in deep theological teaching that I could not give any justice to in just an hour slot. The children listened intently and were engaged for the ten minutes I spoke for.

The Q&A began and I was clearly not prepared for what was heading my way!

Each child had between 10-20+ questions written in their books ready to take me to task!

The depth of questioning was astounding. We discussed the historicity of the Bible, Scriptural inerrancy, Science, and Salvation by faith, Heaven, Hell, Sin, morality, angels, Christianity and other religions, pets in Heaven…and even the role of women in ministry!

I answered as best as I could, bringing the children back to the Cross of Christ amidst the apologetics and I will no doubt spend the rest of the week either regretting some of what I said, or wishing that I answered some questions a little differently.

What I am most encouraged about, is that these children are thinking and are being allowed to take Christianity seriously, approaching the subject with respect.

We could have spoken for hours!

Such reasoning will never bring anyone to faith without the work of the Holy Spirit in their young hearts.

Please pray that the Lord intervened between the weakness of my tongue and the willingness of the hearts of these wonderful children.

Please pray that God would water the seeds that were planted today so that the church of tomorrow will reap a bountiful harvest!

Please pray for this most wonderful school! They are all so committed to the children and it is such an amazing place for them all to come and learn, if only I was 25 years younger,(i’d probably be enjoying detention there)!

In the next few weeks we are starting a club for “young people” at Noddfa, where such discussions can take place, as well as games (table tennis, pool, Nintendo Wii, DVD’s and food).

Just like Church, this club is not just for Christians, or young people from Christian families, it is open to all, from whatever background or philosophy!

The poster is below – if you are interested to send your children, please email pastor@noddfabaptist.co.uk and I can inform you of the start date!