Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee

[NY Times]

Jason Russell, a fitness buff, had long found it difficult to combine his Christian faith with his job as a gym manager, which required him to be around women in spandex and men concerned only with how macho they are.

“Me being a single guy and trying to walk the Christian line, it was difficult,” said Mr. Russell, 30. “I needed not only to protect myself, but as a leader, to help others with their spiritual journey.”

Mr. Russell had been planning to open a gym of his own. Then he discovered Lord’s Gym, a 10,000-square-foot fitness center here that meshes prayer and push-ups. Its goal, says its owner, Paul Sorchy, a chiropractor, is to provide a modest setting where members can feel comfortable exercising. Mr. Russell is now its manager.

The gym offers classes including “Yogod,” its take on yoga, and “Chariots of Fire,” a spinning class. Spaghetti-strap tank tops and short shorts are not allowed, and women’s tops must cover their bottoms.

“Many people want to have a quality atmosphere that’s not involved in the meat-market setting, that’s serious about workouts,” Dr. Sorchy said. “People want something truly family-friendly, and want to have a team of folks they can trust.”

The first Lord’s Gym was started in 1994 in Roseville, Calif., as a nonprofit community center for teenagers. Its founder, Doug Bird, is a former drug dealer who is now the pastor of Abundant Life Fellowship Church in Roseville, about 20 miles northeast of Sacramento.

Read more here.

[From me]

I had hoped this was a Lark News story.  Sadly it is not.  I’ve got a novel concept.  Why don’t Christians join secular gyms and build relationships with the unchurched?  

What do you think?

I recently was trying to find a workout that Cassandra and I could do together. I am a workout junkie. I workout at least 4-5 times a week out in my garage. I know you will laugh but I bought the Fitness Made Simple 45Min FAT BURNING WORKOUT. Go ahead and rip it but the stuff works. It really is simple. But I didn’t want to watch John Basedow everyday I workout so I wrote down every workout so we can do it on our own. But in the DVD, John really shows how simple it is to workout. Any novice could do it.

When I started really working out years ago I went to a Gold’s Gym in Beaumont, TX. I was 155 pounds soaking wet. I was an avid runner, in fact I ran 7-10 miles a day. But I wanted to have more muscle tone so I started lifting weights. One of the trainers befriended me and showed me step by step how to work out. I still use his routine today. I gained 30 pounds of pure muscle in a few short months. I became the massive man that I am today! (ha!) But it would not have happened had I not had my friend pushing me.

It got me thinking about spirtuality. How many people come to church or accept Christ somewhere but don’t have “spiritual” coaches or trainers to help them grow. How many Christians are like the people who join health clubs in January only to quit by the 3rd week. They say it doesn’t work for them because no one showed them how. The word we use today to describe this kind of training is “Discipleship.” But I’m not talking about Discipleship Training or Training Union. I’m talking about one-on-one or small group discipleship like I got in college with Campus Outreach.

Too often churches make it hard to grow in our faith. We have to jump thru hoops and follow the mold that the church has used for years. Reggie McNeal in his book The Present Future says that churches need to operate more like the YMCA. We should take people thru Orientations. We need to each have personal trainers. Our relationship with Christ shouldn’t be so difficult. We need Spirituality Made Simple.