Nutrition and Fitness... too "Churchy?"

You decide. I was recently part of a conversation, where someone mentioned a “stretch” to make Nutrition and Fitness, "Churchy.” Well, if you know me at all, you can probably tell what my response was...silence. Ha! For fear that I would make very clear, one of my greatest “pastor’s wife character flaws,” the anti-thesis of P31, where I proceed to open my mouth and give an earful of, although very true, not very, mmm... “winning friends and influencing people,” verbiage. The fact that I said nothing, I suppose indicates progress in this area ☺. It’s probably why I enjoy writing and speaking in my career most, because I can proofread, re-word, practice and pass everything through my husband-filter first!

What I wanted to say? (Husband-approved mind you) Because it IS “churchy,” as she so intelligently put it. I see it much like our behavior around Christian friends vs. work friends, how dare we make the distinction. If our bodies are atrociously wasting away (as I know they are dying but for some of us, slow, painful and downright gross), how exactly are we exuding Christ-like characteristics in our “everyday?” Now, I know the oh, so, pre-pubescent paintings of our contorted view of “Jesus” show him thin, muscular and able to throw a large sheep over his vein-bulging neck – a specimen of true fitness. But now, take a moment and picture him as a fat slob, eating a Twinkie or better yet, a Hardees’ “Thick Burger,” mustard and ketchup running down his face and wiping his mouth with his sleeve. Now follow it up with a big, growling, yack of BELCH, where everyone looks over to see if something has presented itself on the table, and the smell of acidic onion fills the room. Wow, loses some “majesty” and “grace” doesn’t it? I hardly doubt this is the Jesus of the Bible, the Jesus of moderation and discipline – God Himself! I also can’t see him making a Noni-Juice, power-protein smoothie to wash down his Detox pills and enzymes daily. He knew that our bodies were built with a perfect design in mind. Our only job was to appropriately fuel them with the things He’s provided on this Earth for nourishment, and enjoyment. As usual, our sinful selves take it too far! The distortion of such has led us to be an obese, unhealthy, moody, self-soothing, instantly gratifying, sick nation, and our desperation has lead to a multi-billion dollar industry of quick fixes and false promises.

If you’re like me (not the literary genius that is), I was the one in English class who took everything literal and had NO CLUE how the teacher arrived at her supposed, “symbolism.” Yup, pretty sure it was just a tree the author had in mind and not some woman’s innocence and whatever other garbage was included in that test question I bombed, wow, huh? Anyway, you may be tempted to take every mention of food in the Bible, as sustenance. Now I’m no biblical scholar, and very literal at that, but even I’m not certain of this. Like many of God’s illustrations, he uses analogies that we’ll understand to make bigger points in scripture. And we ALL understand FOOD! Well, we know we like it anyway. I know that God thought the power of food important enough to mention parameters (gluttony/drunkenness). I know He uses its deprivation to draw us closer to Him through prayer and fasting. I know its essential to our survival – we HAVE to eat. At times, its there simply for our enjoyment, in the proper context, like sex, we’ve managed to pervert that too. He mentions and initiates fellowship around the dinner table, and numerous times it’s a crucial part of a celebration. Finally, He used food to set entire nations apart – as He gave rules regarding food to the Jewish Nation in the Old Testament.

I whole-heartedly believe that eating food and striving for fitness is not just another thing we haphazardly do, or should be forced to figure out alone. I also don’t think it’s a choice whether we’re physically fit or not. Nothing is accidental or an after-thought from God. It was designed to be another part of the puzzle, another way to show our obedience. It’s another aspect of our lives, heavily ignored, that we are continually improving on and sharpening, with guidance from the Holy Spirit and qualified teachers. Like scripture, something we should be striving to teach our children. I also know I’m looking forward to the Feast promised in Heaven. And I’m pretty sure God will put more effort into it than Twinkies and Boone’s!