Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. ~ Paul, 1 Timothy 4:7-8
I’m always looking for ways to help stay in shape and fight the dreaded curse of pounds gained after a Baptist potluck. For the last ten weeks, I’ve been doing P90X, having borrowed it from my nephew who borrowed it from my brother. Granted I have not been diligent in sticking with the recommended diet, I can still honestly say, unlike some of the other popular workout fads, the X gets results—I’ve gained more muscle mass and tone than I ever did in several years at the gym, and recently picked up some workout buddies who are doing the same.
The trick is devotion and hard work. There’s nothing overly special about the workouts, all can be done with a collection of dumbbells and a door-frame pull-up bar. They simply give you a variety of moves. It’s intense, it’s sweat-producing, it takes time (usually an hour and a half each day)…and you gotta stick with it.
Here recently, while fully immersed in the “some value” of such bodily training, I’ve started thinking more in terms of training for godliness.
From talking to others, I have little doubt that my church stands in the norm for most of the Christian culture of America. We have a variety of people, some who are faithfully involved, and many others who are…there…sometimes. Most of the people in their 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s who have been going to church all their lives have never read the Bible in its entirety—and the parts they have read tend to be mostly New Testament to the neglect of the Old. I was at a Bible study recently where the group was in Matthew 17, and hardly anyone there had a clue that Malachi made a prophecy about God sending Elijah back to the people before the Day of the Lord, or that that was what Jesus referred to when he called John the Baptist the “Elijah to come.”
We advertise read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year calendars. You can do it in about 15 minutes a day, average reading pace. Most people don’t seem to have time.
Yet in our culture we are devoted—exercise routines, our DVRs filled with shows we want to watch, books we want to read, sporting events, hobbies, Fox News, and the list goes on. And like Paul said about bodily discipline, all of these can have some value. Unlike some more extreme Christians I’ve heard, I don’t think we need to throw the television out with the bathwater.
But what if we were actually more devoted to godly devotion—Bible study, prayer, and serving others?
At the Methodist church here in town, the pastor is leading a group of people through a “Bible in 90 Days” reading plan. Even though he doesn’t share my enjoyment of P90X, he affectionately calls this plan “B90X.” Now I believe there is a time and place for reading through the Bible in 90 days or 180 days, or a year or two years—whatever… but quantity of passages is not the overarching goal of my point.
If 45 minutes straight through the Word works one day, great; but also what about 15 minutes meditating on a paragraph and 45 minutes in prayer? What about 15 in prayer, 15 in Bible reading, and 40 spending time eating lunch with a shut-in at the nursing home? We could make up an infinite number of combinations and lists here.
The point is we seem to ignore Paul’s admonition to Timothy (if we even realize it is there). We don’t train ourselves well for the sake of godliness, though we’re busy training ourselves in a plethora of other ways. But if we as God’s people were devoted to God, day in and day out…if we as families put the emphasis on Bible study and prayer together as we do on going to sports practices…if we actually took the time and maxed out our spiritual muscles, how much more fit would our lives, our churches, and maybe even our culture be?
Something to think about… and to quote Tony from the P90X videos… “Bring it!”
Mike, Good article. One caveat. I am a Pastor/Church Consultant. I have worked with over 500 churches in the past 20 years. PLEASE NOTE – – The issue IS NOT how much time a man has. Everyone has the exact same 24 hours per day, 168 hours per week. The issue IS how a man prioritizes that time. People do what is important to them. That is undeniable. Bible Reading – I hosted Dr. George Guthrie for a weekend Conference here a year ago. The following statistics are those he provide: 1. Only 2% of professed evangelicals read through the… Read more »
When God gives his word and we systematically ignore it, we should not be surprised that our lives, our families and our churches are dysfunctional.
Tom, That is the key. Priority, not time. As Dave says, we should not be surprised at the dysfunction in our church, family, or world. I want to go a step further. As a pastor, do I bear more guilt for not “prophetically insisting” that my church align itself with the Word of God? How do I balance my responsibilities of being loving, with being prophetically, almost brutally honest with my flock? How do I change the attitude in the sheep without driving them off a cliff? If pastors were more prophetic and cast all caution to the wind to… Read more »
PS–Above I meant, “prophetically honest” but left out honest.
Frank et al.,
The terrifying reality is that many who occupy pew space are simply not redeemed. They know the language, can give correct answers to theological questions etc. BUT – the text says that genuine transformation is measured by conduct and practice not mere profession. As a Denomination there has been a “stonewall” of opposition to pulling the curtain back on this reality. I pray daily that God would do this for us.
Tom. I’m not capable of knowing who is truly saved or not.
You go much further than I am willing.
I think the problem lies as much in the pulpit as the pew.
Agreed. A goodly number of those behind the pulpit are also not saved.
Chris, Again, you are going further than I am willing to go. I am not saying or intending to say I know who is saved and who is not saved. My point is simply that we, as pastors, have allowed our calling to be compromised. This had led to a downgrading of our faith communities. You may be correct that many pastors are not saved. The danger of pursuing that path is one becomes the judge of the hearts of others. I prefer to try to come alongside of others to adjust their behavior. I admit, I’m not quite sure… Read more »
Frank,
Three observations.
1. The Pastor may or may not be culpable as to where people are.
2. He IS RESPONSIBLE for knowing where that is and providing loving and effective instruction so that they are transformed into the image of Christ. No Transformation = no Regeneration. The entire book of 1 John is a reliable grid for people to examine themselves – 24 Holy Spirit ordered issues to consider.
3. Who did God put there to shepherd these people – the Pastor. I rest my case.
“”””The entire book of 1 John is a reliable grid for people to examine themselves – 24 Holy Spirit ordered issues to consider.”””” Tom, let me be clear: are you saying you can read 1John and evaluate any person and tell me with “eternal” certainty they are saved or not saved? How much “transformation” is enough transformation to guarantee a person is saved? How long does a person have to gain that requisite amount of salvation? What if a person gains the requisite amount of transformation to meet your approval for salvation, but then lapses into a period of time… Read more »
the reading of sacred Scripture ‘in community’ has been a part of Christian worship since the first Christians gathered together on the Day of the Risen Lord each week . . . the service had two parts: the ‘Service of the Word’, followed by the ‘Thanksgiving’ It is possible, in the course of three years time, to read most of sacred Scripture ALOUD, in community (in Church), if people follow the way of the early Christian people in devoting a portion of worship time to hearing the Word of God being pro-active in honoring the sacred Scriptures openly ‘in community’… Read more »
The issue is not the ceremonial reading of scripture, but submitting to the teachings of Scripture and obeying them.
The prophets had quite a bit to say about empty worship and empty words. Our concern is hearing, obeying and letting our lives be transformed by the Word of God and the gospel that is revealed therein.
Instead of the B90X I use the XBOX, I don’t seem to be gaining any weight.
Here is what I have found concerning reading through the bible, it doesn’t work for my members, I can preach on a particular scripture and folks say I don’t remember reading that.
When you have a slow study through the bible, then folks will say, I remember that but I had just forgotten where it was.
I say reading through the bible, no, but studying through the bible, yes.
Beloved wife and I were just reading this section of 1 Timothy this morning and discussing how much time we spend on things of no profit versus little profit and then compared to great profit activities. I decided then and there to go deer hunting. 🙂 Just kidding. It does lead to that question: is what I am doing truly of great profit? What about how I encourage the church to spend their time together, as their pastor? Is there profit in what we are doing? Or is there too much unnecessary? Is there profit in how we spend the… Read more »