CrossFit - 1

Crossfit - 1

Introduction

Since 2000, when Greg Glassman formally branded his fitness regimen called CrossFit, it has been on a meteoric rise in popularity. Ten years ago there were 13 Crossfit gyms in the United States. Now it has conquered most of the world – it has a presence in Mongolia, Fiji and Kazakhstan. Today there are 11,000 Crossfit affiliates, along with the CrossFit Games, the annual competition to determine the fittest person in the world. Forbes magazine valued the brand at $4billion.

Affectionately known as the Cult of CrossFit, those who get involved are very zealous as they pursue new ways to punish the human body. They go across multiple fitness platforms to accomplish their goals. They have a vision of what they want their bodies to look like, to be formed into, and they pursue it with passion.

- 8 “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” 9 This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it. 10 This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers.

Physical training is awesome. It makes a huge difference in someone’s life, and the Bible confirms that. But we are also introduced to a greater form of training…spiritual training for the soul. Our problem is that we may know how to work out our bodies, but how do we exercise our souls?

Today we begin a new series called CrossFit. Over the course of Luke’s Gospel, Jesus teaches and/or models what we call “spiritual disciplines.” Practices that help us grow and mature in our faith. They are practices that we participate in that form us into the people He wants us to be.

As we look at these disciplines, they are what help us become disciples. Disciples…Disciplines…same word in Greek. Disciples are those who have discipline. Disciplines create disciples. These are the means by which we actively follow Jesus.

And the first one we are going to talk about today sets the tone for the rest of them. It may not be one that we necessarily like, but it lies at the core of all the others. We begin today by looking at the discipline of sacrifice.

- 23 Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. 24 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 25 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? 26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.

A few years ago, football coach Camron Miller made national headlines for an e-mail he sent to his football team. As his team prepared to begin practicing, Coach Miller wanted to be sure they were ready for the coming season. So, he dropped them a message to psych them up:

“My objectives are simple: We need to become better, tougher and more aggressive blockers, tacklers and runners. … Football isn't for everybody. It takes a certain mindset, an aggressive or killer instinct if you will… Think of your team! The summer camp sessions will be short, but intense. Pre-season conditioning will be intense. In-season practices will be intense. … Mental and physical toughness are also requirements. We must get tougher and through hard work, we will. Players practice full throttle unless they are injured. … It's about team! If you don't love being a Bulldog and can't wholeheartedly commit, you are in the wrong place. … You are either getting better or getting worse. We need to get better and it will take serious commitment. … This e-mail is meant to set expectations. No surprises, full steam ahead. Thanks and Go Bulldogs!”

There’s nothing too controversial in that message, right? It’s just typical football talk. Being aggressive, giving 110%... I wouldn’t be surprised if I heard a coach delivering this same message in an NFL, NCAA or even High School locker room. There’s just one problem…Camron Miller coaches 8-year-old Pop Warner Football.

As you might imagine, many parents didn’t take too kindly to Coach Miller’s e-mail. Kids that young play football in order to have fun and build teamwork skills. Most don’t send their 8-year-old out on the field so they can gain a “killer instinct.” Understandably outraged by the coach’s intensity and tone, nearly half of the team quit before practices even began.

Now, I have no desire to justify Camron Miller’s e-mail. Still, part of me can understand why he sent it. As misguided as it may have been, Coach Miller simply wanted to be sure that his team knew what to expect. He didn’t want them to be surprised or shocked in the middle of training camp. He didn’t want his players to complain that they didn’t know what they were getting themselves into when they signed up to play football for him. While his expectations may have been a little too much for third graders to handle, he at least wanted to make sure they were communicated as clearly as possible.

In a sense, that’s exactly what Jesus did in . When large crowds came out to follow Him, Jesus told them His expectations for all those who would be His disciples. He let them know exactly what they were getting themselves into if they were going to follow Him.

TS - But how could Jesus say such harsh things? How could he really expect such radical commitment to Himself and His mission? Well, let’s back up a bit in the text.

- 18 One day Jesus left the crowds to pray alone. Only his disciples were with him, and he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” 19 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other ancient prophets risen from the dead.” 20 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Messiah sent from God!”

This is about the midpoint of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus asks them, Have you figured out who I am yet? Peter gets the right response. You are the Messiah! Or The Christ (Greek is Christ, Hebrew is Messiah). Both mean the Anointed One, or Promised One.

This declaration from Peter is a big deal. Notice the exclamation point at the end of Peter’s sentence. Messiah is King. Messiah is Lord. When Peter declares Jesus as Messiah, he is saying that Jesus deserves all glory, power, and honor. But Jesus slows him down a bit. Messiah has connotations of ruling with authority, military might. Jesus helps Peter understand what being the Messiah really means.

- 21 Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone who he was. 22 “The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things,” he said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.”

Jesus’ path is one of suffering, pain, and rejection. He will be rejected by the most important people in his culture. He will be murdered. He will literally take up his cross and die. And from that place of sacrifice, there will come life…he is raised on the 3rd day. Life is found in sacrifice. Now do you see the weight of his words to us about sacrifice?

- 23 Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. 24 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 25 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? 26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.

“Then he said…” Because of who he is, this is who we need to be. Because of his sacrifice, he calls us to sacrifice. We give because he gave. He can demand this from us because this is what he gave for us. This is why the discipline of sacrifice makes us more Christlike. This is who he is. This is what he has done. If we want to be like him, follow him, we must go down this road. Sacrifice forms us into His image.

TS - So what does this sacrifice look like in normal daily life? How does this transition into an everyday reality? Jesus tells us that just a few verses later.

- 57 As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.” 59 He said to another person, “Come, follow me.” The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” 60 But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.” 61 Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.”

62 But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”

TS - As Jesus encounters these would-be disciples, these potential followers, he clarifies the reality of it for them. They act like they want to follow. But when Jesus spells out the cost for them, maybe they aren’t so sure. The sacrifice Jesus calls for is:

COMFORT

Jesus reminds this first follower that He doesn’t have a permanent address. If you follow, you sacrifice home. You know home, right? That place where you can sit around all day in your pajamas. Sit with your feet propped up on the couch, maybe with dibs on the comfy chair? Home is the place where you are most comfortable and you can do whatever makes you feel more comfortable.

Jesus says that if you want to follow him, you lose that. You don’t belong to this world anymore. You have to realize that life isn’t about your personal comforts and the universe doesn’t exist to make you happy. When you follow Jesus, you won’t feel near as comfortable in the world anymore because your home is somewhere else. There is a reason the NT refers to Christians as “aliens and strangers” in the world.

Friends, comfort is the primary enemy of sacrifice. It is the primary enemy of spiritual growth. It is the primary enemy of any personal change. Why change when you’re comfortable the way you are?

When it comes to a commitment to spiritual growth, I’ve heard every excuse in the book. I’ve used every excuse in the book. Don’t have the time. Don’t have the money. Really? How many electronic devices do you have? How much time do you spend connected to them?

The first step to spiritual growth for many is to acknowledge the resources of time and money that they do have to pursue it. We do have the time. We do have the money. We’ve just been putting them into things that make us comfortable. We must sacrifice comfort for Christlikeness.

2. CONTROL

This second would-be follower makes a request that seems reasonable…let me bury my dad. Our hearts go out to him. But, the phrase that he uses is a Jewish colloquialism. It means that his dad isn’t dead yet. His dad might not even be sick. He is saying to Jesus, “Following you sounds great. But let me wait until dad dies, attend to all the issues with that, execute his will as he deemed fit. Then I’ll head your way.” That may take 5 days, that may take 50 years. He wants to follow Jesus but he asks for an indefinite delay.

He wants to follow Jesus but he wants to dictate the terms. Do it on his timetable. Set his own priorities. In reality, he’s not asking to follow Jesus. He is asking Jesus to follow him.

Timothy Keller - “People sometimes say to me, ‘I would like to be a Christian, but will I have to do this? Will I have to give up doing that? Will I have to pray, give up sex, quit my job, change my views?’ …I’m afraid many people want to negotiate the cost rather than count it. That is, they are willing to give up things, but they won’t give up the right to determine what those things are."

It may be easy to judge this guy for making such a ridiculous request. But we do this all the time. We want Jesus to adjust to

our priorities. To bend to our schedule.

Attend church if I’m in town and don’t have anything else.

Read Bible if nothing is on TV or already binged Netflix.

Give money after pay credit card bill, or whatever is left.

Serve others if it fits into my schedule.

Worship if I like the song.

Engage others relationally if I’m in a good mood.

Share my faith if there is no risk.

But that is not how any of this works. Followers don’t get to control. Followers don’t lead. Followers follow. If we are going to follow Jesus, we must practice the discipline of sacrificing control. If Jesus is not Lord of all, he is not Lord at all.

3. CONCERNS

On the surface, this third would-be follower seems to make the most reasonable request. “Let me quickly say goodbye to my family.” Easy to do. Go home, get my bags, kiss grandma goodbye, then I’ll be on my way.

Jesus’ response shows us that this reasonable request isn’t as simple as it seems. Jesus sees right through the request to the real issue underneath…looking back with regret. A concern for the life left behind. Not walking away from former life fully to follow Jesus.

- 62 But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”

If we are going to follow Jesus we can’t look longingly at anything else. We don’t focus on what we maybe missed out on or the opportunities that passed us by. We don’t concern ourselves with what might have been. We move forward and follow.

Think of it in terms of a marriage. Let’s say you and your spouse are out to dinner somewhere and you run into someone you dated in high school or college. And they look great! Do you sit there and long for the life you missed out on? Do you wallow in regret over the life you chose? How would the night go for you if you spent the rest of the dinner saying to your spouse, “Shhh honey, I’m thinking about what my life would have been like if I married that person instead.” How foolish!

TS - Jesus is dealing with the concerns of our lives and our priorities. Are you in or out? Will you follow or not? Because if you are going to follow, Jesus comes first. While Jesus may subtly deal with that here, in a few chapters, he does so without any subtlety at all.

- 25 A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, 26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.

Harsh words, right? But here is the clear truth straight from Jesus’ own mouth…”If you follow me, I’m the dominant relationship. I get priority. Everything else in life will take a backseat to me.” If we are going to follow Jesus, we must sacrifice our concerns and give those over to him.

TS - Do you feel the weight of that? This isn’t the happy-go-lucky stuff we like Jesus to say. It feels really heavy. And Jesus will acknowledge the weight of his demands on disciples:

- 28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. 30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’ 31 “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? 32 And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. 33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.

Doesn’t it strike you as important that Jesus himself says to not follow him based on a whim? “But don’t begin until you count the cost.” That’s huge! Don’t become a Christian, don’t get into the waters of the baptistry until you’ve sat down and weighed this. Don’t be a mockery to the faith by building half a tower. Don’t go to war if you’re going to be slaughtered. Sit down and count the cost first. Do you really want to follow Jesus? Because this is required. Not optional.

Of all the hard things we’ve heard Jesus say today, verse 33 is the hardest. - 33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own. See that word? Cannot. Impossible. Not an option. The discipline of sacrifice is at the core of what it means to follow Jesus.

For those who have claimed that Jesus is merely a good, moral teacher (not God, just a good example and teacher) I always ask…Jesus is a moral teacher? Have you actually read what he taught? This is insane! Moral teachers don’t/can’t demand this kind of a life. But…

If Jesus really is who he said he was, if he really did what the Bible said he did, then this is the most reasonable demand in the world. Jesus doesn’t demand this kind of life for no reason. Jesus demands sacrifice because Jesus was the sacrifice. Your salvation cost him everything. He went “all in” at the cross. And now he demands you go “all in” following him. Does this kind of life define and describe your life? If not, are you following him? Have you counted the cost? Are you ready to go all in?

We sacrifice because he did. We willingly pick up the cross of sacrifice and go to the place of death because that is exactly what he did. We don't fear death because he conquered it.