Sometimes when I invite a friend to give CrossFit a try, they say something like, “I’d love to try it. Sounds fun, but I’ve got to get in shape first.” When someone says this, it tells me two things. First, they’ve misunderstood the purpose of the program. We CrossFit to get in shape and stay […]
Let’s Pray Silently Together
One reason more Christians don’t regularly practice more of the traditional spiritual exercises is because they usually try to do them alone. While many of them are personal, they don’t have to be done in private. Some are just difficult enough that they’ll never become habits as long as we attempt to do them alone. […]
September 9, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Don’t Look, I’m Struggling
My failure to follow through on a good idea that was good for me illustrates everything that is wrong with our attempts to train for spiritual fitness in private. By going alone, I missed out on a great opportunity to develop “communitas” with a few others. I also put myself in a situation where it […]
September 7, 2011 by 2 Comments
Knock Knock: Why Door Knocking Is a Good Idea (Sort of)
One of the challenges facing Christians in North America is that we have to go out of our way to suffer for our beliefs. Our neighbors are more likely to ignore us than persecute us because we follow Jesus. The closest most of us come to shared suffering is when we endure a boring sermon […]
September 6, 2011 by Leave a Comment
We Suffer Together
I’ve seen CrossFit create a beautiful kind of community that spans the gaps created by age, race, and body type. Because CrossFit is scaleable, people with radically different levels of fitness work out side by side. We may all lift different weights, jump on boxes of different heights, and run at our own pace, but […]
September 2, 2011 by Leave a Comment
CrossFit is Too Hard to Do Alone
Just in case I haven’t made this point clearly enough. CrossFit is hard. Really hard. Not hard as in “impossible” or “perpetually discouraging,” but hard enough that you have to brace yourself every time you walk into the gym. CrossFit hurts. We sometimes spend the first five minutes after a workout flat on our backs […]
September 1, 2011 by Leave a Comment
This Is Not For Everyone
I know what you’re thinking. Not everyone will want to be a part of a church that trains this way. That’s true. Not everyone wants to do CrossFit either. This is one possible way of pursuing physical and spiritual fitness. It may not be the best approach for everyone. I wouldn’t recommend trying to force […]
August 27, 2011 by 2 Comments
A Spiritual Hopper Deck
What if we developed a constantly varied approach to spiritual training based upon the hopper deck model? The idea would be to convene a small group of people who wanted to train for Christlikeness and embraced the concept of constantly varied training. The facilitator would identify 20 possible exercises that could be done by the […]
August 26, 2011 by 6 Comments
Spiritual Adaptation Leads to Stagnation
For context, first read this and this. In many churches, attenders pick the kind of event or gathering that is best suited to their personality and strengths. This is not necessarily a negative. It is essential to give newcomers the freedom to go where they’re comfortable in their early days with the community. But if […]
August 25, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Why is Church so Boring?
This is a follow-up to CrossFit is Never Boring and is part of a larger discussion about what churches can learn from CrossFit gyms about changing lives. Let’s compare the varied programming of a CrossFit gym with the programming of the Wooly Mammoth Community Church (Where God’s love is big and fuzzy). Let’s assume the […]
August 24, 2011 by 7 Comments
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons