Skip to main content

Core Training

I’ve been discussing core values of youth ministry this summer with my youth. At the beginning of the summer I used the picture of Core Training. The picture in my head was one of exercise and training. The exercise gurus will talk about having a strong core, referring to the area around your mid-section and back. I’m told that many injuries can be avoided if you have strong core muscles.

In fact, I have been doing some core training physically this summer with my wife. She found a workout video that is supposed to work out everything at the same time and leave you feeling ripped. We’ve been waking up at 6am 3-4 times a week this summer to do these videos. I don’t wake up at 6am because I want to. I don’t do so because it feels good. I do it because I am rules oriented. I need the exercise and this is the only time it will happen. I want strong core muscles. So I follow the ‘rules’. I exercise and try to watch what I eat if by that you mean showing my kids how many more cookies i can eat than them. The ‘rules’ say that if I do these 2 things, I will be in good shape.

But Core Training for spiritual reasons is totally different. Imagine that I talked the same way about spiritual training. ‘I wake up at 6am 3-4 times a week with Jesus and we work on my spiritual muscles; faith, hope, love. I don’t wake up at 6am because I want to. I don’t do so because it feels good. I do it because I am rules oriented. I need the exercise and this is the only time it will happen.’

Will this type of attitude please God? Faith is more heart knowledge than head knowledge. But often times, we see head knowledge taking the lead as we learn what is right and wrong for Christians. As humans, we’re very good about following rules, or at least pointing out when others don’t follow rules.

But God is more concerned with our hearts. That’s why Jesus said to “love the Lord your God with all your heart” (Matthew 22:37). It is also why Isaiah prophesied “these people…honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Isaiah 29:13). God desires to have right action. But He is really more concerned with right motive. I’m not throwing out the rules. I am saying that you should be more concerned with loving God, truly loving God. Loving God involves getting to know Him.

I am re-reading a book by Mike Yaconelli called The Core Realities of Youth Ministry (more on this book tomorrow). In the book, Mike is talking about the value of intimacy and asks us to imagine a married couple. Imagine that they had a great wedding day, but after that they stopped doing anything together. When anyone questions them about their relationship, they just point out their wedding pictures and say that is how they know they have a good relationship. Would we say they had a strong marriage?

We do the same thing spiritually. So many people come to Jesus and have a conversion experience. But then they don’t spend any time with Jesus. When anyone questions them about their relationship with God, they point back to a time when they were 5 or 6 or 12 and say that is proof they are a Christian. But would we say they have a strong relationship with God?

How do you know you've been close with God recently?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Studies on the Go...Genesis

To be honest, I had not heard of Studies On The Go before being offered a review copy by my god friends at Youth Worker. But since I’m always looking out for study ideas, I said yes to this opportunity. Studies On The Go by Laurie Polich-Short has 30 studies. This particular edition is on the book of Genesis. Any book of the Bible can be daunting when you’re trying to interest and impact teenagers. But Genesis increases that difficulty due to the many questions that arise on the topic of creation. On top of that, you have the many stories of questionable characters that we often call heroes of the faith. Each study comes with great questions, not mindless Sunday School questions where every answer is Jesus. They also come with an optional activity to take the lesson a step further and create true impact. Add to that a weekly plan for students to go deeper and you have a winner of a study in one little book. If all the book studies are as well done as this one, I’d ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Are You Capable Of?

I fancy myself to be just like Batman...without the money, the cave, the vendetta, the car and the cool belt. Other than that, we're pretty much the same guy. Does it help my case that I have a boy wonder? It's my son, but I'd take him over a dude in green tights any day. I've also imagined myself to be similar to Superman...you know, but without the super strength, speed, or that thing he can do with his eyes. Oh, and I'm also not from another planet. But he was a reporter and I like to write, though that hasn't been proven much by my blog. At least, not compared to what I used to write. The first time I write this post, it sounded like an apology. But that's not really the message I want to convey. Yes, I wish I were posting more. I also wish I had super strength or a cool utility belt, but those things aren't happening right now either. Maybe some day . The truth is I have been keeping busy. I'm not sitting back, sipping lemonade. I've never c...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Facebook Maybe

Granted, I'm a pastor. I have Type-A tendencies. Ok, my tendencies border on freakish OCD behavior patterns, but... Few things bother me more than the Facebook 'maybe'. I suppose I could go on and on about the grey areas of our society and the refusal of people to accept absolute standards. I could discuss the great need of people to accept that what is wrong for one person is likely wrong for everyone. I should certainly be concerned about mentioning that someone might have sin in their life. But I don't believe the Facebook 'maybe' is quite sin. Perhaps if I were coming up with new sins, I would add this to the list. But alas... Some might think the Facebook 'maybe' did not exist prior to the Internet, but they would be wrong. When I was in high school and asked a girl out on a date, I would normally be told that if they had no other plans, if nobody else called them, if there was nothing good on television and their hair did not need washing, then per...
5 comments
Read more