Missions Catalyst

Beating Back the Quarantine 15:
Motives for Getting Fit

Hey, Missions Catalyst tribe, can you do something for me? If you’re sitting down as you read this, lean forward a little bit. Now, reach down and grab your belly. Are you happy with what’s in your hand? Are you thinking like me, “I wish I were holding onto a little less right now!”? (If you didn’t even do the assignment because you knew the shame and self-loathing that would result, I’m sorry. My purpose is not to drag up that pain.)

I was recently listening to an episode of a podcast called Dad Tired that asked the question, “Does God care if I exercise or not?” As host Jerrad Lopes laid out his response, I thought, “Wow, this matters for mission mobilizers!”

Of course, it matters to most Christians. All of us should steward well all the resources God has given us, including our bodies. The human body (even yours!) is a work of art capable of amazing work. And at least so far, it’s the only tool we have with which to interact with other humans and the rest of God’s good creation. Taking care of it is smart.

Fit for the Mission

But here are four reasons I think this is a particularly important deal for you and me:

1. Almost every day at 10:02am I pray Luke 10:2, “Father, send laborers into your plentiful harvest.” God says we need more laborers. You can’t go if you’re dead! And as hard as cross-cultural work is, it’s harder if you’re out of shape and not healthy.
2. I want us to set a good example. I want people to say no to my global invitation because it’s not for them (or they think it’s not for them), not because I apparently lack the discipline to leave even a single Twinkie in the box!
3. It’s possible I’m writing this now because I’m in week seven of a nine-week Couch to 5K program and am in better shape than I’ve been in, maybe ever (that’s not saying much!). I’m also mostly eating veg, per the example and request of my smart-as-a-whip wife.
4. I have a hunch that many of us wrestle with some level of depression and a greater number of us feel the weight of a great task, a cause that can feel infinite, and the pain of people living in tough situations and Jesus-less despair.Add to that cocktail the reality that we’re not an easy bunch to open up to. We think if we’re sharing this Jesus message with others, we should probably have already figured out life for ourselves.While I’d never be so trite as to say, “exercise your blues away,” solid data indicates exercise can fight depression in some cases.

Three Wise Cautions

I suspect you agree with those reasons, but the trick is to find the right balance and appropriate action. Lopes shares some wise caution regarding getting our bodies into shape. He urges us to watch out for:

1. Idolatry. Remembering from Sunday School that idolatry is valuing anything in your life ahead of God, you may think, “I’m not likely to put this body above God!” The pain of running also makes me think I’m never going to make an idol of it. But people do, and you and I are people. It’s possible. Lopes tells us to be careful to keep priorities straight. He got it from Paul who told us a long time ago, “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.”
2. Proper motivation. What motivates you to stay in shape or might inspire you to get there? I remember telling a nutrition coach a few years ago that my main reason for wanting to buy and consume her crazy-expensive protein shakes was so I wouldn’t look fat when I was teaching Perspectives classes! Yep, subpar motivation and one which, as you’d guess, didn’t last!These days I want to be pushed forward by a desire to take care of God’s gift of my body. I want to be able to run with the kiddos and qualify for decent life-insurance rates. I don’t want to end up in the hospital or disqualified from an amazing opportunity because of stupid lifestyle choices.
3. Misplaced security. Lopes reminds us that our hope and life are in God. We can’t diet or lift ourselves to immortality. No amount of mileage will shift our ultimate security from God’s hands to ours. Even though I want to work hard to extend its expiration date, the timing of my temporary shift out of this body is more up to God than me!

What Makes Me Run

Two visions compel me to run these days. Actually three.

Since my inner 14-year-old is still always showing off for girls, I run to impress my wife.

But I also run away from this scene in the movie WALL*E: On the life pod orbiting a used up and garbage-filled Earth, the fat and jowly residents spend their lives riding around in lounge chairs, screens in front of their faces, big sugary sodas in cup holders at their side.

I really don’t want to be like that!

The other vision is my hero George Verwer, the wiry, mouthy octogenarian who launched Operation Mobilization as well as the missionary careers of a gazillion people. He was already in full stride 35 years ago when he first impacted my life and he continues to generate helpful content today.

That’s what I want to be like!

How About You?

From the bewilderingly complex work of your cells to the cool color of your hair, God has giving you a great body. Are you taking care of it? Would you like to do better?

If you would, please join me and your Mission Catalyst compadres by setting a health goal for September. Here’s mine: By the time the next Practical Mobilization article hits your email box, I’m going to weigh less than 200 pounds. I don’t have a terribly long way to go, but I’ve hit a plateau and need to log more mileage and consume less food.

What would you like to see happen with you and your body? Jot it down on the Practical Mob “Your Body Is a Temple” Wall of Wonder. Of course, you’re welcome to just take a peek at what others are doing. You might get inspired!

May God give us grace, courage, and grit to properly but relentlessly care for the amazing bodies he’s given us. And as a result, may he give us more days to mobilize others and more months and years to invest in his great kingdom purposes.

by Shane Bennett

I love Advent. It’s one of my favorite times of the year. It seems healthy for my stream of the Church—which sometimes assumes it’s the whole river—to connect with the broader body of Christ geographically and historically. The hymns are rich. The objective is focusing. But since I hate waiting, how about an entire liturgical season focused on it!

But then, there’s a lot of waiting going on these days, right?

Waiting for a vaccine.
Waiting for test results.
Waiting to hear the diagnosis or the treatment plan.
Waiting for kids to get back to school.
Waiting for an appropriate time to push ahead with fundraising.
Waiting for things to get back to normal.
Waiting for a proper funeral for a departed loved one.
Waiting to get back to your ministry assignment.
Waiting for new episodes of The Great British Bake Off / Baking Show.
Waiting for a Savior to get here.
Waiting for the Savior to get back here!

If all the waiting is weighing on you, I get it. I feel that way, too.

But expectation, hoping for, looking forward to what’s not here yet, it’s part and parcel of our faith, isn’t it? We come from a long line of wait-ers, at least back to Abraham, who Hebrews says, “did not receive the things promised; [he] only saw them and welcomed them from a distance…”

In the meantime, there’s the trite aphorism: Bloom where you’re planted. Its 2020 COVID corollary could be: Sprout where you’re stuck.

Can COVID Catapult Us Forward?

If we’re able to climb on top of our current troubles, get our feet under us and our heads on straight, what opportunities might we see? Could we say to our enemy, “I see your COVID and I raise you one resurrected Jesus and the poured-out Holy Spirit”? If we throw off the COVID covers, what possibilities might dawn in these days? What windows are open? What opportunities now look worthwhile? How can we move forward even as we’re tempted to hunker down?

Maybe we could crowdsource this. Could you take a minute and share on this google doc what fresh possibilities you’re seeing in this season? What new activities does COVID require for you? What opportunities are opened up? Are there specific ministries you’re mourning as you let them go? Others that make more sense now than ever?

Let’s move forward together by sharing our COVID Catapults with each other. Here are two ideas I’m hoping to implement:

1. Develop new mobilization content.

As more churches improve their online delivery efforts, I wonder if there’s a little window open for mobilizer people to supply video content. I’m thinking low-tech, smiling face, single idea or nugget of good news, and maybe one next step (like pray, read, or move to Pakistan). Could you do something like this? You have a smartphone and an internet connection, right? Also, you’ve been told no before, so if your Oscar-worthy short video gets rejected, it won’t be the first time.

2. Read inspiring books—together.

I’m also wondering about gathering some diverse friends to read a book with me. My 11-year-old daughter is gobbling up Greg Livingstone’s You’ve Got Libya. As an act of solidarity, I’m going to read it with her. If you’d like to join us, let me know. You’re welcome on the journey. Got another book you’d like to read with some other smart people? Reach out and make it happen. Feel free to invite me. I’ll serve as the non-smart group member!

What About You?

Maybe your COVID Catapult is a little more radical than a video or a group read. I was inspired recently by erstwhile U.S. presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s move with his family to Atlanta, GA to rally voters for the upcoming Senate run-off election. I’m not hoping his efforts prevail, tending personally to prefer governmental gridlock. But I do appreciate his “throw everything into it” mentality. Makes me wonder what it would take for me to move the whole crew to a new zoo. How high would the stakes have to be? How timely the opportunity?

Perhaps COVID’s provided you a chance to consider some new options, to reconsider some ossifying assumptions. As Grandpa Henry assured us, “God is always at work.” These crazy days are not the first exception to the rule!

I hope we look back on this time and see, though maybe through tears, that God has launched a whole new season of purposeful effort toward the completion of his purposes.

Share your COVID Catapult ideas and read contributions from others.