Running: spiritual training, Paul-style
- Oct 26, 2007 - comment
Christina Dortch loves to run. It’s good stress relief from her graduate school classes, not to mention good exercise.
But she would be lying if she said it was easy to get up and run each morning. Some days, she just doesn’t feel like it. On those days, she has to do it deliberately, lacing up her shoes, pushing through how she feels.
But she’s always glad she did.
“My favorite thing about running is when you finish and feel absolutely amazing,” said Dortch, adding with a laugh that she feels less guilt later, too, when she eats a good-sized dinner.
But it’s more than just that.
“Dedication to running often feels very similar to maintaining spiritual disciplines in my life,” said Dortch, who attends The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham, in Birmingham Baptist Association. “I know that both are beneficial for me on so many levels, yet my flesh longs to be lazy. But I can confidently know that the end result of not running or not being disciplined in my spiritual life is not what I desire.”
She isn’t the only one to see how the two intertwine ever so neatly. In fact, more and more Alabama Baptists are finding out for themselves what Paul knew and wrote to believers in 1 Corinthians 9:24–27:
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
Starting to run and sticking with it is a “very easy parallel” to learning to live the Christian life, said Hardy Sellers, a triathlete and equipping minister for administration at Vaughn Forest Baptist Church, Montgomery, in Montgomery Baptist Association.
“To be a triathlete, you have to run when you don’t want to run. And if you want to finish strong in your spiritual life, you have to have a plan,” he said. “The discipline it takes to exercise is the same discipline it takes to grow spiritually, so disciplining myself for exercise makes it easier to discipline myself with my family time and reading the Word.”
Beyond the discipline parallel, there’s an even more obvious spiritual factor involved in running, Sellers said.
“Our bodies are God’s temple. We don’t have to be able to run marathons to share the gospel, but as Christians, we’re supposed to show the world that we can be disciplined in all areas of our life, including how much we eat and how we exercise,” he said. “With some disciplines, it’s not so obvious to the world how we are doing with them, but if we aren’t disciplined with how we eat and exercise, it’s very easy to spot.”
There are other means of accomplishing physical fitness, but Holly Person, cross country coach for the University of Mobile, said running is one of the most accessible ways to get the exercise that everyone needs.
“All you need is a pair of running shoes and the open road,” she said.
And running, unlike many other sports, can be personal and quiet, except for the pounding of feet on asphalt. According to Pastor Ryan Whitley of CrossPoint Church, Trussville, in St. Clair Baptist Association, it’s ready-made time for prayer or meditation — or even just clearing the mind of stress.
“There are times I’ll be writing a sermon and hit a roadblock, and I will put on my shoes and shorts and go for a run,” Whitley said. “In the middle of the run, the roadblock will go away, and I can come back and finish the sermon.”
Not to mention that he has more physical energy for the day’s spiritual tasks because of running.
“I eat better, sleep better and my metabolism works better,” he said.
Through developing such physical health, spiritual opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise be a possibility can even be opened up, Sellers said.
A team from Vaughn Forest was planning to go to the mountains of Nepal to share the gospel in places even the Nepalese people thought were too far away to visit.
“To be able to go, team members had to submit to a training program,” he said. “You have to be in incredibly good shape to carry a sack and hike the mountains of Nepal, but someone still needs to reach them with Jesus.”
Person said Christianity demands this type of purposeful hard work, whether training for Nepal or trying to run a little farther down the block each day to sharpen discipline and be healthy to serve Christ.
And Dortch said the key to sticking with running — and her spiritual walk — is accountability.
“I almost always run with other people. Just knowing that someone is enduring and struggling along with you makes it all the more tolerable and provides a constant encouragement to keep going,” she said. “I have found the same to be true with prayer, consistency in the Word, church and small-group Bible study.”
This article is reprinted from the October 18, 2007, issue of The Alabama Baptist, the newspaper of the Alabama Baptist State Convention.