Physical fitness and Christian stewardship

Corrie Thiessen

IF WE WANT to work better, enjoy our relationships more, live longer, be stewards of the bodies God has given us, and refrain from being a drain on Canada’s healthcare system, we will make physical fitness a priority.

Why be physically active? The apostle Paul, after all, reminds us "our outer nature is wasting away" (2 Corinthians 4:16). "For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling" (2 Corinthians 5:2). The reason we need to be physically fit is simple, as Paul well knew—eternity is in our hearts, yet we exist in a physical world.

Generally, Mennonites have become physically indistinguishable from their neighbors and have adopted many of the same vices. Physical fitness is defined as "the entire human organism’s ability to function efficiently and effectively…ability to work effectively, to enjoy leisure time, to be healthy, to resist hypokinetic diseases, and to meet emergency situations" (Charles B. Corbin and Ruth Lindsey, Concepts of Physical Fitness, 1991, Dubuque: Wm C. Brown Publishers, p. 3).

Hypokinetic diseases are conditions associated with lack of physical activity such as heart disease, lower back pain, adult-onset diabetes, and obesity. These definitions raise a number of issues for Protestants. In light of our Protestant work ethic, what does it mean to work effectively? Can we pursue leisure activities without feeling guilty? How do we deal with stress?

In the past, physical fitness was not an issue. Our agrarian lifestyle demanded strenuous physical activity, which resulted in positive physical health. The production of food assured survival of the family. Work both within the home and in the fields required a large family working together to survive. Physical health was a byproduct of a necessary lifestyle.

With the onset of mechanization our culture altered radically. The typical Canadian family now consists of less than two children. In many households, both parents hold sedentary occupations. In 1921 half of the Canadian population lived in urban centres. Today, over four-fifths of Canadians live in cities (James Henslin and others, Sociology: 2^nd Canadian ed., Needham Heights: Allyn and Bacon, 1999, p. 416).

Sedentary jobs have taken the place of physical work. Where physical work was once exhausting, so now is mental work. My grandmother once asked my father, who has an office job, why he was so tired. My grandmother, who has done physical work for most of her life, could not understand how sitting in an office everyday could be exhausting.

Our social circumstance affects our perspective. Where we once worked to live, we now live to work (Josef Pieper, Leisure: The Basis of culture, Pantheon Books, 1963, p. 20). Today our vocational pursuits are sedentary. The effects on our physical bodies have been devastating.

"Food plus health plus warmth plus education plus affluence have not quite equaled Utopia. We have leisure, entertainment, convenience, and comfort. We have insulated ourselves from the unpredictable ravages of nature. Yet stress, frustration, and oftentimes even despair unexpectedly accompanies our unrivaled prosperity" (Richard A. Swenson, Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives Colorado: NavPress 1992, p. 22).

If being physically unfit affects us so negatively, then the benefits of being physically fit should be clear. More than one pastor has remarked, "I think it was those 20 minute runs, three times a week that kept me going." Why is this? Physical fitness is about much more than running a mile, cycling 10 or walking everyday. Fitness goes much beyond that of one individual. Physical fitness or lack thereof affects our life span, our relationships, our self-esteem, and our hospital bills.

The article God is Good Medicine states that "People who follow a religious/spiritual path are more likely to enjoy greater longevity and superior overall health than those who do not" (Ron Csillag, The Globe and Mail, April 2, 2002). Unfortunately, the weakest link according to the article is between Protestants and good health. This is attributed to our weaker sense of community due to greater independence than others, as well as our over zealous (Protestant) work ethic, lack of religious dietary laws, and affluent lifestyle.

Our health problems are not our own. They affect our families, our children and our society. Hypokinetic diseases such as diabetes and obesity have shortened our collective life span and have become a social problem.

There is "a marked increase in the proportion of Canadian children who exceed earlier thresholds for overweight and obesity. These findings are remarkable in their magnitude and consistency and draw serious attention to the escalating problem of pediatric obesity in Canada (Mark S. Tremblay and J. Douglas Willems, Canadian Medical Association Journal, Nov. 28, 2000).

Corbin and Lindsey find that obesity is "associated with shortened life due to health problems, psychological maladjustment, and poor relationships with peers (especially among children)" (p. 29). The Heart and Stroke foundation has found that childhood obesity has increased markedly over the past two decades and in fact that "pediatric obesity is a problem and concedes that behaviors that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease begin early in life and, therefore, it is essential that prevention begins in early childhood. More attention to the promotion of healthy nutrition and physical activity throughout childhood and adolescence is required" (Tremblay and Douglas, 2000).

Few biblical texts specifically delineate the benefits and perhaps requirement for physical fitness. Perhaps this is because physical health was a natural outcome of lifestyle in Jesus’ day. Transportation systems consisted of little more than walking or riding an animal. Jesus’ disciples were fishermen and His own trade was carpentry. Who felled the trees needed for Jesus’ handiwork? How were the nets, bulging with fish, hauled back into the boat? The work demanded by these tasks was entirely manual.

If one part of our being is unhealthy, all parts are affected. Why do so many of us regularly choose against the benefits of health? In a paper Coping with Stress, presented to EMMC ministerial in fall 2001, Jack Heppner observes that in order to deal with burnout, it is our physical bodies that first need healing.

"The healing process takes place in precisely the reverse order. If we finally do listen to our bodies and allow them to relax, gradually the physical symptoms begin to disappear. Then slowly our emotional health returns…find our spirits healing…" (Coping with Stress: What I'd wish I known 30 years ago, p. 14).

Even if the goal is simply the financial bottom line, the corporate world, ahead of churches, has adopted physical health wholeheartedly. Increasingly businesses are adding health and fitness facilities to their complex. General reports find a decrease in absences by employees who use the facilities as well as increased morale, creativity and productivity. An effective exercise program can reduce your brain stress and body stress, improve health, firm muscles and help you lose weight.

A study, which put sixty middle-aged men through a strenuous exercise program, resulted in positive attitude change. "The personality scores of the men who were in the worst condition to begin with showed the greatest level of improvement…scores went up on personality tests that measured emotional stability, imagination, self-assurance, and self-sufficiency" (Kenneth H. Cooper, The Aerobics Way Toronto: Bantam, 1977, p. 176).

Ray Killinger reports that physical fitness improves the following six categories of mental processes: "originality of thought; duration of concentration; mental response time; ability to change topics—the ability to entertain a number of ideas at once; and finally, mental tenacity" (1977, p. 183).

The problems are obvious—obesity, diabetes, and burnout. We are all affected in some way. The lost benefits too are obvious—lack of energy, lack of creativity, and, among many others, the lack of ability to deal with stressful circumstances. Physical fitness is not an end in itself and like anything else, the challenge is to find the balance.

So where do we begin? Do you have the ethical freedom and time to engage in leisure activities that contribute to physical health? What do you most enjoy doing? What have you never had the opportunity to try? Some thrive on the competition and teamwork of organized sports. Others use their solitary walk, run, or bike ride to relax. The adventure of a new hiking or biking trail can draw your whole family together.

I recently hiked the Mantario Trail with seven others. The health benefits are obvious. Sixty plus kilometres (because we got lost) of beautiful rocks, moss and mud hiked in three days. Lakeside camp spots in -3 degree Celsius temperature with deer, grouse, porcupine, and bear tracks to keep us company. Steak and potatoes over an open fire (on the first night). Oysters, capers (a new food group to me), crackers and dehydrated wonders for every other meal. Teamwork, camaraderie, storytelling, singing. Some Chrisian, some not, some questioning. Blisters resembling sushi. Three pre-med students to keep us all going.

Play together, work together, take on a challenge together. Save money—bike to work and to the store. Be a tourist in your own province or state. You finish the story, or begin a new one.

Corrie Thiessen works as associate dean of student development and athletic director at Steinbach Bible College. Her leisure activites including mountain biking, tennis, cribbage, and knitting.