Walking through town on my way to the Men’s Shed I pass three gymnasiums.  I know of at least another three in town.  Why does a place like Coffs Harbour need six gymnasiums?  And – let me add – they all seem to be well patronised.  The first one I passed at 8.30 this morning had at least a dozen people doing various workout activities.  The second one I pass has an al fresco area out the front where there are always small groups of people enjoying a coffee – or even having their breakfast – probably in between their spell on the treadmill and their time doing weights.

The cynical part of me wants to suggest that there’s a direct correlation between the number of Gyms and the number of Fast Food outlets in town.  After all, we have to find some way to work off all that cholesterol and all those calories.  Since modern society is much more sedentary than the society of our great-grandparents we need some way of looking after our bodies.  So if we’re not into sport then spending an hour at the Gym before sitting down behind a desk and a keyboard for the rest of the day is probably not a bad idea.

Anyway... I suspect the apostle Paul would approve.  Paul’s theology certainly wasn’t limited to spiritual things.  He had quite a lot to say about the body.  He reminded the Ephesians that no one ever hated their own body, but that they feed and care for it.  He expressed his concern to the Thessalonians that even their bodies should be kept blameless until the day of Christ.  Paul told Timothy that “physical training is of some value.”  So if Paul had lived today I imagine he might even have taken out a Gym membership.  You certainly can’t accuse Paul of being too heavenly minded to be of any earthly use.

All of this raises questions about the stewardship of our own bodies.  Some people still don’t get that.  There’s the fellow who’s only a few years past middle-age and he’s already been in hospital with a heart attack.  His was a life-style disease.  But he continues to smoke; he still loves his cream-cakes for morning tea and his attitude to exercise is that if he ever gets the urge, he lies down until the urge goes away.  After three cardiac episodes I’m convinced that it’s my Christian responsibility before God to exercise regularly and to watch what I eat.  Sure, I know I’m a pilgrim here on a journey to a better place – and I’m prepared for that day when the Lord calls me home.  However, in the meantime the Lord calls me to be a good caretaker of this body that he’s given me.  It’s the only one I’ve got!

There is however a catch.  Paul, in his advice to Timothy said that “physical training is of some value”.  And there’s the rub.  At the end of the day we’re not just living for the here and now.  We’re more than just human bodies.  We also have a soul.  Looking after ourselves is not just a matter of exercising good stewardship of our physical bodies – we’re also caretakers of our souls.

Here we bump into the predominant mindset of our western culture that lives just for the body... just for the temporal.  Too often the spiritual and the eternal don’t make it onto the radar.  Many Gym members would be at a loss to understand what the apostle John wrote to his dear friend Gaius.  When he commended his friend to God in prayer, he said, “I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.”

So how are you doing, are you fit and healthy?  What are you doing to your body as the caretaker of that body?  But I also want to ask you: how is your soul?  Is your soul well?  I have to confess that there have been too many times when I haven’t looked after my soul as well as I should.  Sometimes my soul has suffered from anorexia – I starved it of the good food of God’s word.  At other times I fed it stuff that wasn’t helpful and the Lord had to administer some medicinal soul discipline.

An ancient church confession states that as a Christian I belong to Jesus – body and soul – so I need to care for both.  And so do you!

John Westendorp