The athletes of God

• Give your whole-hearted life to Him. Then accept the disciplines by which grace will flow abundantly into your life.

I have joined a local gym to try and concentrate on bodily fitness as I age. Pushing, pulling, cardio, reps, sets, sweat, fatigue. And between sets you don’t have to be in the gym long to recognize who is really serious about fitness protocols…and who is not. 

For starters, the ones who actually show up are far more serious than those who don’t. And as anyone will tell you, these gyms in our cities and towns embrace a business model that make their profit primarily off of those who sign up but rarely – or never – show up. Planet Fitness, for instance, recently reported that approximately 40% of its members used its gyms within a 30-day period in 2023 – 60% did not. And what’s true there is true elsewhere.  A whole lot of people who sign up to work out never show out. As in none. Zip. Nada. 

Easy to sign up. Hard, apparently, to follow-through. 

Which might explain the need for the Desert Fathers (and Mothers, really). They had signed up for Christ in the fourth century during the difficult era of persecution, but when acceptance, ease and comfort came for the Church persecution died out and assimilation and compromise were elbowing in. Hence, these saints decided to withdraw to the desert. Author Richard Foster says that they could be best understood as the Athletae Dei (Latin for the “athletes of God”) who juxtaposed their inquiries of life with those of the world around them. 

According to Foster, their world asked “How can I get more?”  The Desert Fathers and Mothers asked, “What can I do without?” Their world asked “How can I find myself?” The Desert Fathers and Mothers asked “How can I lose myself?” Their world asked, “How can I win friends and influence people?” The Fathers and Mothers asked, “How can I love God?”

As spiritual “athletes” they sought to pray without ceasing (especially praying through the Psalms), they meditated upon and memorized lengthy Bible portions, they entered into long periods of silence and solitude, they fasted regularly and for extended days and weeks, they dedicated themselves to voluntary poverty, they extended hospitality to those who would come to their domiciles and ask for advice and wisdom. 

Running throughout these spiritual disciplines and questions were basically two principles – self-denial and discipline. The Athletae Dei were simply mirroring what excellence in virtually any worthwhile field of endeavor demands. And in virtually any Christian era of renewal you will see these same principles at the core. This isn’t by happenstance. It was Jesus who lived out one of more well-known of His teachings: “Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me.” Movements of religiosity that try to get to excellence any other way lack the wisdom of biblical teaching that always coincides with great spiritual profit. 

Back to my gym. As I work out I often think of what the guys I used to work out with would say about the work ethic found there. My gym makes sure you know there is “No Judgement!” anywhere inside of their place. But it could stand some…um, judging. I once worked out at the university and for workout partners I lifted with the National Strength Coach of the year and a couple of pro football players (current and future). It was, to put it lightly, all business all the time. Twice a day workouts (the first starting at 6:00 am) and it was a matter of full attention physically, emotionally, mentally. Today, my non-judgmental gym has individuals doing a set then sitting down on a bench to look at their smartphones for five minutes before doing another set before checking out their social media again for another five minutes. 

That mentality was what the Athletae Dei were, among other things, running from in their day. 

Want to be one of God’s athletes today? Give your whole-hearted life to Him, of course. Then accept the disciplines by which grace will flow abundantly into your life – prayer, Bible study, fasting, church and small group attendance, the Lord’s supper, evangelism of the lost service to the needy. And these continually, day after day, week after week, year after year. 

That’s the workout of the Almighty. And you don’t need to pay dues in the desert to do it.