We have one body

“We have one body, and if we would like to successfully fulfill the call of God on our lives, then we need to maintain our temples,” said Dawniqua Linyear a Christian fitness trainer and figure competitor. The conversation was over and she had proved her point. Me, a one time professional athlete was officially out of shape and out of God’s will for my life. I started to think how I got this way. At one time I bench pressed over four hundred pounds; ran a forty yard dash in 4.3 seconds; and had less than 3% body fat. But, now as I look in the mirror I don’t see that man anymore. More of her words started to play in my mind. “You are an athlete why are you so out of shape?” I know she was joking, but there is always a bit of truth in humor. I guess I never considered the spirituality of our bodies. I reckoned keeping the temple “holy” was all that was required of me – since I have never heard a preacher even broach the topic of gluttony. I deduce the reason why I worked so hard to keep myself in shape in the past was a result of my desire to perform on the football field. And, I suppose because I stopped playing, I lost the motivation to stay in shape. I am not saying its right, it’s just what happened. Alright time to confess, I have been out of football ten years now, and currently I am the youth pastor of a larger urban church in the Hampton Roads area. And, when I am asked to minister to youth across the country, the one calling card that opens more doors for me than my education or anointing is the fact that I played pro football. As a result, I am always asked to partake in some athletic event to engage students. But, because I am not in shape and because I know if I were to attempt to participate in any athletic activity, I would not only get embarrassed, but also get hurt as well. For various reasons I did not see being in shape as a part of my Kingdom Calling. Yet, I can vividly remember being in Bosnia Herzegovina, which is located in Eastern Europe, at the Emek Beraka camps ministering to Muslims and being asked to help run some basic athletic activities and having to pull out because I was not in any shape to help out. At the time I thought it was a funny way of getting out of the physical labor, but now I feel convicted and certain that I missed a myriad of opportunities to reach souls for Christ. Additionally, in the fall of 2009, I was a part of a mission’s team that went to Haiti to speak at a leadership conference, distribute goods at a medical clinic, and preach the gospel at several churches. I literally preached 7 sermons in two days and was dead tired; my fatigue was not only a result of the volume of sermons preached but it was because the temperate in Haiti was very high. I remember feeling as though I could not go on. But, after hearing Ms. Linyear’s words I realized I had not been a good steward of my temple, and if I had been, I would have had more energy to minister to the people and build relationships after I spoke. Instead I felt like I had to be whisked away due to exhaustion. Once again Ms. Linyear voice rings in my mind, “People fail to minister in areas that they refuse to practice. It's easy to talk about spiritual maturity and growth in Christ, which takes a certain level of discipline, but the truth is, God has already provided the blood, sweat and tears in this area, we just need to walk in it. Living a healthy and balanced lifestyle is a challenge physically, mentally emotionally and spiritually, and it takes extreme levels of discipline, along with some sweat and tears of our own.” I realized what she was saying was that being in shape is an act of worship! Why had I not seen it before? Being is shape is not just my responsibility or the responsibility of the missionary but it’s the responsibility of every believer. Remember the words of Christ, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' (Matthew 25:23). When it comes to being physically fit most believers reference 1 Timothy 4:8 and use it as a way of devaluing exercise. 1 Timothy 4:8 reads, “ 8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” What the NASB and KJV translates as “profiteth little” in Greek is translated “for a short time”. in Js 4:14, and could be translated the same in 1 Ti 4:8 The text is not saying that exercise has lesser value in contrast to spiritual exercise because the same adjective is used to qualify both actions. The text communicates both practices are beneficial, but the former practice will only last as long as we have these mortal bodies, and the latter practice will be beneficial throughout all eternity. But it doesn’t communicate that it does not profit us or that it is valueless to the believer. We must understand that our bodies are extremely valuable to us while in our possession. Now if it is true that [w]e have one body, and if we would like to successfully fulfill the call of God on our lives, then we need to maintain our temples… then what a tremendous value a fit body can be to the believer…