My friend Daniel Grell teaches a class at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago entitled “Care for the Soul.” This class, designed for young men and women heading into ministry, addresses many subjects related with what is necessary to maintain health over the long haul in ministry. He is having various people speak (via video conferencing) about different aspects of soul care, and one of the areas relates to physical fitness. He asked me to address the class for about 20 minutes about how physical fitness is an important element in soul care. So, bright and early this morning, I “met” with the class, sharing about this subject, and what follows are some of my notes from that lecture.

I have an amazing job. I make trips every month from WA State to various parts of Africa or globally to train pastors. It is a rather unusual position I fill, and I am blessed to do it, but it’s also physically grueling. In order to maintain energy, focus and balance, I need healthy rhythms in my life. One of those is physical fitness. For me, this includes regular exercise and healthy eating habits. This can be a sensitive subject, so please don’t be offended at what I share.

Daniel can attest to the fact that I’m quite disciplined, maybe overly so, to exercise every day when I’m on these trips. It gets interesting sometimes when I’m in airports tucked in a corner doing pushups, sit-ups, and jumping jacks during a six hour layover. Oftentimes when I’m in Africa I stay with local pastors in their simple homes, and in the hot humid weather the whole family gathers around my computer and we follow along with Sean T and his group doing an Insanity workout, sweat flying everywhere, all of us laughing and looking ridiculous – great experience they never forget.

How does physical fitness relate to soul care? Other topics clearly are tied to caring for one’s soul, but physical fitness is like the opposite of spiritual fitness, right?

In my experience, and as I study Scripture, I find that they are both integrated. God could have created us any way he wanted, a mind floating in a cloud, brain on a stick, whatever. But He chose to create us with a body that houses our soul and mind. When combined with emotional, mental, social and spiritual health, these all work together to produce holistic health.

Biblical foundations and principles.

1 Cor. 6:19 – In a section on importance of sexual purity, Paul gives the theological truth that our bodies are a temple of Holy Spirit who lives within us. So the application of this is in verse 20, “So glorify God in your body.” How? Part of that is to glorify God in your sexual purity. But also, make sure your body is capable of doing what God has called you to do. Make sure your body honors and glorifies God by being a useful vessel for Him.

For example, I work in Africa where it is hot and humid, and frequently I have to walk long distances in heat to train pastors. If I’m lugging around a big belly, have high blood pressure and low energy because of poor nutrition and little exercise, I won’t make it. Whereas being fit physically will open doors for me to do God’s work. I sleep better, am more productive during the day, and my overall attitude improves when healthy rhythms are maintained. In addition, I’m crossing 10-12 time zones, turning my internal clock upside down every month, so being healthy helps speed up the transition.

1 Tim. 4:8 – A helpful verse on the balance of physical and spiritual attention – “…while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” Physical discipline and fitness offers some value, but not eternal value. Pay more attention to spiritual health, but pay some attention to physical health. Sometimes we focus much on the mental and spiritual aspects of ourselves in preparation for ministry to the exclusion of developing healthy physical patterns.

Question – Are pastors, missionaries and ministry leaders more prone to overemphasize physical discipline or underemphasize it? Take a class poll. (Every student responded that we tend to underemphasize physical discipline.) We need balance.

Some health issues you can’t control. But exercise and nutrition you can control. I find that when I work out regularly and eat right, mentally, emotionally and spiritually I’m sharper and more productive. I am better able to handles stresses of life and have more energy to do my job. I have been training in Africa with pastors from America who did not exercise at all during our multi-day trips, and on several occasions they have had little or no energy to do the training work. My daily exercise routine energizes me so I can do what needs to be done.

One of the frequent challenges I hear from pastors and missionaries in this discussion is that they don’t have time to exercise. I’m sorry, but this is a copout, cause people who are a whole lot busier than you or I, with much more pressure upon them, still find ways to keep physically fit. Oftentimes it boils down to fitness being a low priority, or they are too lazy to push back from the desk or get off the couch and work out. Discipline and self-control are needed.

1 Cor. 9:27 – In context of Paul surrendering rights for sake of promoting the Gospel. “I discipline my body and keep it under control (lit. – “pummel my body and make it a slave,”) lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”

Practicing discipline and self-control is an essential part of physical and spiritual fitness and care for your soul. Self-control in eating, self-control in exercise, self-control in time management, etc.

Daniel said I should share personal testimonies from my life, so related to discipline, I need to confess that I love to eat. So to keep my desires in check, I fast once/week, usually from Saturday night till Monday AM. I never want even a good blessing like food to become more important to me, more of a source of joy to me, than the Lord.

Seven days/week, I get some form of exercise. On fasting days (my “day of rest”) it is pretty light, but the other days it is pretty intense for 45 min – 1 hour. I try to guard against going overboard and becoming a “gym rat,” but intense, focused exercise for a brief period helps me throughout the day. For me, that looks like a balance of running, elliptical, Insanity, core workout, weights, etc. This is mixed with eating healthy, minimal sugar and junk food, lots of veggies, etc. You’ve all heard that as you get older, metabolism slows and this discipline becomes even more important.

An important question to ask in this discussion is: What is your motive in doing physical discipline? There are some who are physically fit to be admired by people. That 1 Cor. 6 passage reminds us to glorify God in our body. Not self. Not to get girls to gawk at us.

So in review, I’ve mentioned several principles pertaining to physical fitness related with care for the soul:

• Healthy rhythms in life, including exercise and good nutrition, enable us to do what God has called us to do.
• God made us with bodies, so physical fitness is integrated with mental, emotional and spiritual fitness to produce holistic health.
• Glorify God with your body by using it and shaping it so you can fulfill your calling.
• Keep physical fitness in balance with godliness – don’t overemphasize but also don’t underemphasize.
• Lack of time is a poor excuse. Make fitness and health a priority – not top priority, but not bottom either.
• Discipline and self-control will be essential for physical fitness. These are things you can build if you have the desire.
• Check your motives in physical fitness. Work out and eat right for the glory of God, not to be admired by man (or woman).

Pressing on, by God’s grace. Eric