church//gym: entry08

when I first started going to the gym, I’d just walk in, listen to my iPod, and then leave without talking to anyone. eventually, some very thoughtful and friendly people smiled at me and waved on the way in and out. not only that, some really nice people just came up to me and introduced themselves and showed interest in me. each time they came up to me, I had a choice to make: will I be a snob, or will I open myself up to a friendship with this person? I also had another choice: will I leave my headphones in my ears or will I pull them out when someone is talking to me?


things are a lot different now, after3 months at the gym. I still make my exercise mixes for my iPod, but I don’t even get through 2 or 3 songs most days. now my friends walk up to me, tap me on the shoulder and say hi. they ask me what I think about the game last night or the elections. and every time my friends come up to me I pull my headphones and I rarely put them back in.


this got me thinking about church. a lot of people feel uncomfortable at church because they don’t have relationships. they feel that they don’t have relationships because church-people are exclusive or snobby. and some people are. but my experience at the gym has showed me that if you show up consistently, you’ll meet someone, even if you weren’t trying to. and my experience has shown me that the amount of friends we have usually isn’t because of everyone else’s snobbiness, but it’s because of our own. each of us need to decide if we will open ourselves up to a new friendship or not. the reality is that most people who feel that everyone is snobby really mean that the people that they HOPE to be friends with are snobby. there are a ton of friendly people at church that are really trying hard to make friends and to be friendly. if we would just open ourselves up to a friendship with them and lower our own defenses and ego, we could meet some really cool people; and really look forward to our next visit.


here is another thought-
my friend gary is SEVENTY-SEVEN. he is a beast. I was stepping on the elliptical next to him this morning and I was going super fast, trying to get my 6000 steps (which has become a lot easier lately- just like he told me it would!). I put raise the incline one level every six minutes. gary goes for 30 minutes with the incline as HIGH AS IT WILL GO. and he goes fast. it’s like he is sprinting up a steep hill for 30 minutes. did I mention that he is SEVENTY-SEVEN?! as he has the stamina to chat with people and encourage them. this morning we were both stepping pretty fast and this lady behind us on the treadmill said to gary, “you’re almost keeping up with your friend!” and he said, “no- no- rob is much faster than me.” he’s 77! and the truth is, I’m a LONG way from doing his workout! i asked him what he does after his cardio workout, and he said he does 400 crunches! i've got nothing on gary- and i'm not even half his age!


the church//gym illustration: there are older people at church and at the gym who are super-cool and we all could learn a lot from.