Stamina

Spiritual Training Cycle: Unity (wk. 13/13)

Reading: 1 Peter 1:3-9

“What is CrossFit?” I don’t hear this question as often as I used to. Which makes sense. When CrossFit began in 2000, it started with one gym. Today, there are over 14,000 gyms in 120 countries. Suffice it to say, more people know what it is. But my answer to that question often raised eyebrows. Some may have been confused, others probably more annoyed at the arrogance of my response. “It’s the sport of fitness.” I mean, that’s what they brainwashed me to say at the coach’s course. But it’s true. This is the sport that attempts to measure fitness across the broadest modalities it can. To be the sport of fitness, one must define what fitness is. CrossFit’s definition of fitness recognizes ten general physical skills: Cardiovascular/Respiratory Endurance, Stamina, Strength, Flexibility, Power, Speed, Coordination, Agility, Balance, and Accuracy. An athlete is as fit as they are competent in each of the ten skills. A portion of these you develop through training and others you build through practice. And while some skills have limited cross-over in our spiritual lives, others have incredible potential – especially stamina.

CrossFit defines stamina as, “the ability of body systems to process, deliver, store, and utilize energy.” Webster defines it as, “the bodily or mental capacity to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity.” The key to stamina is sustaining the effort over time. Consistency becomes the trait athletes with stamina express. Their interval times in a workout will look the same across all intervals. Their sets and reps won’t diminish, and neither will the weight they move. The proof of stamina is the ability to maintain power even with the workout is long in the tooth.

But stamina is not just a body or mind thing. Webster also defines it as, “the moral or emotional strength to continue with a difficult process, effort, etc.” In other words, there’s a soulful component to stamina. I like to think of this as spiritual stamina. Just like we work to hold the power steady in a WOD, spiritual stamina is about holding the power steady in life. Whether that’s heading to the in-laws for dinner, tucking your child back in bed for the 300th time, or saying yes to a friend in need, you now have the load necessary to build spiritual stamina. In spiritual fitness, the proof of stamina is not the load, it’s our response to the load. James says it like this:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds. James 1:2

Not just joy, pure joy. Proof of spiritual stamina is a joyful response to the load of life. Avery Rimiller defines this kind of joy as, “A feeling of good pleasure that is dependent on who Jesus is rather than on who we are or what is happening around us.” Joy is the proof of our spiritual stamina. So let joy be the hallmark of your life. In today’s questions for reflection, I ask you to think of the most joyful person you know. If I asked your friends this question, would they say it was you? I’m not talking about fake smiling and blessing everybody’s heart. I’m talking about genuine, deep, authentic, unshakeable joy. The kind people turn to when their own life feels like it’s in the toilet. In your pursuit of shalom, let the joy of the Lord be your strength, and let the joy in your life be your stamina.

Questions for Reflection:

How would someone know they are developing greater spiritual stamina?

Who’s the most joyful person you know and why?

Core to Extremity (Reboot)

Spiritual Training Cycle: Unity (wk. 12/13)

Reading: Philippians 4:4-13

Strength is powerful. From Popeye to Superman and beyond, we’ve come to associate strength with power. Whether to leap tall buildings or rescue those in need, strength is where it’s at. But what’s the origin of strength? For Superman, it was his home planet of Krypton. For Popeye it was his can of spinach. And for us, the origin of physical strength is our core. Some people toss around the word “core” like it’s an accessory movement you do at the end of a workout. But spend enough time training and you’ll realize that the core of the human body is essential to every functional movement it will perform. The core is the foundation upon which all movement will be built. In our gym, we call this core to extremity.

While I don’t think it’s necessary to exhaustively list every muscle that makes up the core, let me say that I’m not just talking about abs. Think of the core as the torso. It’s the essential base of the body. Your limbs, your neck, your head, all the rest of your body is an extension of your core. Which is why it’s vital that our core be strong. But punching you in the gut or having you do some crunches or back extensions won’t reveal your core strength. To really see core strength, hold an object as far away from your body as you can and try to move it. Whether that’s flutter kicks or overhead squats, stronger athletes will do more reps or move more weight because their core supports their extremity. The extremity of your physical performance cannot be realized without the sufficiency of your core strength. In other words, the foundation matters.

Core to extremity is also applicable in spiritual fitness. Think of extremity as life happening to you and around you. Your job, your relationships, your family, rush hour traffic, school, bills, you name it. People miss the opportunity to develop their spiritual core when they primarily focus on the world around them. They get caught up in the pursuit of happiness and accomplishment, or they end up trying to control everything around them. But life has this amazing way of bringing new and unexpected things to us all the time. A strong spiritual core comes from the joy found only in Jesus. Avery Rimiller defines this kind of joy as, “A feeling of good pleasure that is dependent on who Jesus is rather than on who we are or what is happening around us.” Joy is the by-product of a life lived in pursuit of Jesus. When the extremes of life happen, and they will, your joy in God remains stable. The stability of godly joy provides more freedom to handle tougher challenges in life. It gives you a solid platform to rely on no matter what the world throws your way.

A strong spiritual core comes from the joy found only in Jesus.

I find that sometimes the best way to build my spiritual core is to find joy in the moment. When the kids are making you late for work, find joy. When the clothes you needed are still in the washer, find joy. When the interview doesn’t go the way you thought it would, find joy. In today’s reading, the Apostle Paul shows us why he can be content in every situation. It’s the joy of the Lord that gives him strength. And he calls on that strength by actively choosing to rejoice. So, here’s my challenge to you – rejoice in the Lord! Make godly joy not something you walk around with, but something you do. That’s the firm foundation on which we stand.

Questions for Reflection:

How do you rejoice in the Lord?

What makes finding joy in the moment challenging?

Flow

Spiritual Training Cycle: Unity (wk. 11/13)

Reading: John 16:12-22

In early May, I took a trip to Dallas to finish my semester of graduate school. While I was there, I dropped into a great gym where I unplugged as a coach, plugged in as an athlete, and got some quality training with their community. Four days later, I was back in our gym where the athletes were buzzing about with some new training concept they had recently become aware of. To be honest, I usually shake my head at situations like this. Mostly because people discover on Google or YouTube something Chris and I have been teaching for years. And this was no exception. As the workout was getting ready to start, one of the athletes looked over at me and said, “Coach, for this WOD, I’m gonna flow.”

Flow. It’s the biggest buzzword in CrossFit 737 right now. And once again, not a new concept. Flow was born out of the athletic pursuit of a mental state known as “the zone.” The zone is the good space where the magic happens. Flow is about backing down the intensity of the work just enough to be mentally unbridled and completely focused on the task at hand. When you allow the work to keep you fully present, you’re in the flow. Athletes are in love with this idea. Some of them love it because they think it gives them permission not to push so hard. And that’s true. But flow is not some recovery term. It’s seeing the difficulty in front of you for what it really is – an opportunity to build fitness.

Fitness is simply the by-product of work. If you want fitness, what you really want is work. Not just any work either. The quality of your fitness is determined by the quality of your work. The flow to true fitness must always pass through effective work. Over time, athletes learn to take their focus off fitness and instead ring every drop of opportunity out of the work. The blood, sweat, and tears are the investments made which produce this rich and lasting fitness. This is the flow in physical fitness.

There’s flow in spiritual fitness as well, and that flow carries us toward shalom. Shalom is the richness, fullness, and ultimate flourishing of life. I would go so far as to describe it as the spiritual zone. When we are fully present with God in the work of our life, we are experiencing shalom. This is our true joy. Avery Rimiller defines this kind of joy as, “A feeling of good pleasure that is dependent on who Jesus is rather than on who we are or what is happening around us.” Joy is the by-product of a life lived in pursuit of Jesus.

Joy is the by-product of a life lived in pursuit of Jesus.

Which is not easy by the way. Why? Because you don’t develop that kind of joy without difficulty, sorrow, grief, and pain. They are all on the flow to joy. People mistakenly believe that sorrow and joy are like opposite poles on a magnet, but they aren’t. The pain and difficulty God allows in your life can and will produce emotions of sorrow. But that’s the work. And God uses that work for the purpose of drawing people close to Him and producing in us a joy that cannot be shaken. So, when situations in your life get challenging, take a deep breath, center yourself, and focus because joy may just be on the horizon of your flow.

Questions for Reflection:

How do you see the relationship between sorrow and joy?

Can you think of a time in your life when difficulty led to joy?