Running A Race or Fit for a Pew?
by Jeff Vanderstelt
A few years back a friend of my challenged me to run with him in the Chicago Marathon. I had never run a race before, but my competitive edge led me to take on the challenge. I have never been so intent on getting in shape in my life. I heard that some people die during marathons (some figuratively and some literally). I wanted to get in shape not so I could just run the race – I wanted to do it and live.
As I have pondered the results of the REVEAL research and thought through the implications for student ministry, I have harkened back several times to my experience with the Marathon training. I got into shape because I HAD TO – it was a matter of necessity and survival.
It seems to me that we could address the matter of spiritually unfit Christians from one of two approaches. We could address it like we address our problem with physically unfit Americans – build more health clubs, sell more fitness products, host more seminars and work hard to make sure everyone has a personal trainer. No one would argue that we are lacking any of this in America and all of us would agree – we are not much healthier as a result.
Or, we could look at it from another angle – what if we called every student to get ready to run a marathon? (Maybe the apostle Paul was on to something here.)
Is it possible that the reason that the church is not spiritually fit is really due to the fact that many of us are merely calling people, students and adults, to sit around and observe other spiritually fit missionaries perform in front of them? Let’s ask ourselves: “What are we calling students to that requires them to be spiritually fit?”
What if we called students to run the race of the mission of the gospel? What if every student in our care believed they were called to full-time ministry in their schools, jobs and neighborhoods and that every moment was a gospel ministry moment? What if we helped them see that the small group they were involved in was really a potential core group of a new church to be started in their community and eventually they were going to be the pastors?
What if the church once again called her people, especially her teenagers, to get ready to be sent out to start new churches everywhere and they knew they had only a couple of years to get ready? I wonder - would they take their spiritual fitness and training a little more seriously? Would we?
The race has already started. Let the training begin...
[Jeff Vanderstelt is the lead elder of Soma Communities in Tacoma, Washington, and a breakout speaker at Shift 2008. He was also a contributor to the book, Impact: Student Ministry That Will Transform a Generation.]
A few years back a friend of my challenged me to run with him in the Chicago Marathon. I had never run a race before, but my competitive edge led me to take on the challenge. I have never been so intent on getting in shape in my life. I heard that some people die during marathons (some figuratively and some literally). I wanted to get in shape not so I could just run the race – I wanted to do it and live.
As I have pondered the results of the REVEAL research and thought through the implications for student ministry, I have harkened back several times to my experience with the Marathon training. I got into shape because I HAD TO – it was a matter of necessity and survival.
It seems to me that we could address the matter of spiritually unfit Christians from one of two approaches. We could address it like we address our problem with physically unfit Americans – build more health clubs, sell more fitness products, host more seminars and work hard to make sure everyone has a personal trainer. No one would argue that we are lacking any of this in America and all of us would agree – we are not much healthier as a result.
Or, we could look at it from another angle – what if we called every student to get ready to run a marathon? (Maybe the apostle Paul was on to something here.)
Is it possible that the reason that the church is not spiritually fit is really due to the fact that many of us are merely calling people, students and adults, to sit around and observe other spiritually fit missionaries perform in front of them? Let’s ask ourselves: “What are we calling students to that requires them to be spiritually fit?”
What if we called students to run the race of the mission of the gospel? What if every student in our care believed they were called to full-time ministry in their schools, jobs and neighborhoods and that every moment was a gospel ministry moment? What if we helped them see that the small group they were involved in was really a potential core group of a new church to be started in their community and eventually they were going to be the pastors?
What if the church once again called her people, especially her teenagers, to get ready to be sent out to start new churches everywhere and they knew they had only a couple of years to get ready? I wonder - would they take their spiritual fitness and training a little more seriously? Would we?
The race has already started. Let the training begin...
[Jeff Vanderstelt is the lead elder of Soma Communities in Tacoma, Washington, and a breakout speaker at Shift 2008. He was also a contributor to the book, Impact: Student Ministry That Will Transform a Generation.]
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posted by Jeff Vanderstelt at 6:03 PM
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