THE MARATHON OF FAITH

Stafford Greer, Bearspaw Lead Site Pastor

Watching the Olympics is always fascinating: world-class athletes who have trained for years for a chance to compete at the highest level in their sport. Their dedication to the process is admirable; they are not there by accident, but as a result of focused, intentional training.

Ask anyone who has trained or played sports and they will tell you that it requires ongoing work to maintain a fitness level: healthy eating, enough sleep, rest days, days where you push yourself, structure, fun, coaching, etc.

While my competitive athletic experience might be limited to the “weekend warrior” or “men’s league” tiers of competition, I am familiar with what happens when you take some time off from training: regression quickly occurs. I’m recently back at the gym and, after taking the past 4-5 months off, my muscles are sore, my weight is up, and my strength is down.

Our spiritual growth has similar parallels: without concentrated disciplines, working our spiritual muscles, we can easily stagnate and even regress. It may not rear its head until one day you find yourself shocked at your response to a situation in your life that exposes a lack of abiding in Christ.

What has happened? "How did I get here?” You may ask.

It isn’t on purpose. No one ever plans to put on the extra weight, or looks forward to a schedule that is out of control, or eagerly awaits the day their fuse is shockingly short and explosions of anger are grossly over-the-top. After experiencing a vibrant faith and intimacy with God, most wouldn’t set out to reach a place where God feels more absent than present, yet we so easily can find ourselves there. What gives?

Here’s the thing: you will never drift towards intimacy with Jesus. Athletes never drift towards the championship podium and you will never drift towards intimacy with God. Healthy spiritual growth (just like being physically healthy) can’t be fast-tracked. There are no crash-diets or magic pills. It requires a sustainable rhythm in your life marked by discipline, intentionality, self-reflection, and a way of measuring your growth.

Throughout scripture, the Apostle Paul uses fitness training and sport imagery as a parallel for the life of the disciple: Pressing on to win the prize, to fight the fight, run with perseverance, wrestle not against flesh and blood, and so on.

“For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” - 1 Timothy 4:8

We’re heading into the dog-days of summer where the temptation to “take some time to yourself” will call out to you like a siren’s song. You might be tempted to “take a break” from the accountability and connections of a small group for a few months, to eschew the patterns of spiritual disciplines like prayer, scripture reading, and corporate worship, and to spend some time focusing on yourself rather than serving others.

Our new sermon series, The Everyday Disciple, is all about the spiritual training throughout the regular, ordinary, everyday rhythms of life. Let’s journey together towards Jesus, not neglecting the patterns of living that help us to abide in Christ and grow in his likeness. We will cover the relationship between discipleship and technology, your wallet, your calendar, your home, and your neighbourhood, understanding that these everyday areas of life can contribute to the “training in godliness” that the Apostle Paul wrote about.