Running

I am not a runner. All of my life I have not found running to be something I enjoyed. I know ... there are lots of you who say, "Oh, running is just so great! You really feel good afterward!" Not me. I never got it. To me it was all pain, no gain. Running is not part of my nature. I can swim just fine, play racquetball well, and do all sorts of other exercise, but running is not on my list. It's not in my nature.

In the early '80's I joined the Air Force. Imagine my chagrin when I found out that one of the requirements to pass basic training was to run a mile and a half in a limited time. I figured I was in trouble. Now, lots of things in military life can be faked. You can salute an officer and fake respect or you can salute an officer out of respect. The salute doesn't look any different. But running a mile and a half in a limited time cannot be faked. In addition, in basic training we weren't allowed to run by ourselves. We were required to run in formation. And the structure of the formation put me near the front of an entire flight of guys, most of whom had no problem running a mile and a half. I figured I was in real trouble.

Things didn't turn out like I expected. There were a variety of factors. I had committed myself to the Air Force, so I committed to passing this test. I had the "written word" -- "You have to run a mile and a half to pass basic training." And I had a whole group of people running with (and behind) me. So instead of dying after 14 steps, I found that I was keeping up with the rest. I didn't want to get trampled. I didn't want to endanger the guys behind me by falling out. I didn't want to fail the test. So, despite the fact that running was not in my nature, I found myself, on the required day, running with everyone else a mile and a half to pass the test without any problem.

American independence has encouraged a mindset in American Christians that says that church is, well, acceptable but not really necessary. We have a term for it -- "Lone Ranger Christians". A lot of people actually admire them. They're not saddled with the teachings of men, the errors that every church has, or any such thing. They're just concerned about their relationship with Christ and nothing more. It is a relationship, after all, and not a religion. And isn't "church" religion?

Well, no. The Scripture paints the "church" as God's idea. He put it in place "to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes" (Eph 4:12-14). He designed it to help us "hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering", to "let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another" (Heb 10:23-25). Too many Christians think that the church is Man's idea, a method of obtaining power or money or both. It's not. The purpose of the church is to make disciples and teach them to observe everything Christ taught (Matt 28:19-20).

I am not a runner by nature. Then I found myself in a situation I hadn't anticipated. I had my commitment, the written word, and a group of people running with me and there I was, running farther and faster than I ever thought I could. I could fake a lot of things in the military, but this wasn't one of them. And, in the same way, we are not, by nature, good Christians. You may think you have what it takes, but we need these things to be what followers of Christ ought to be. We need personal commitment and the Word. We need a group of people around us to push us beyond our own natures and stir us to love and good works. We dare not ignore God's design and neglect being part of a church. We need that structure to make us a unity. We need that device designed by God to make us what He intended to be.