Physical Health. Something we all want. Something we know we need. From childhood we‘re told: “Eat your vegetables.” “An apple a day…” “Zip up your coat.” “Early to bed, early to rise…” Media sells us on the importance of water and exercise, and, of course, their supplements, latest diet fads, or must-have gym memberships. It’s important. It is a matter of life and death and it is so easily neglected. Even Apostle Paul weighed in on this matter in his advice to young Timothy: “For physical training is of some value (useful for a little)…” (1 Tim 4:8 Amplified) – and for most of us, every little bit helps!
Emotional and Spiritual Health. Something all those following Jesus want. Something we know we need. As leaders, we excel in telling others they need it and we tout our many varieties of multi-point prescriptions. It’s important. It really is a matter of life and death AND eternity and it really is so easily neglected. Paul continues his fatherly advice to Timothy:
“Practice and work hard on these things; be absorbed in them [completely occupied in your ministry], so that your progress will be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself [concentrate on your personal development] and to your teaching; persevere in these things [hold to them], for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you” (1 Tim 4:15-16 Amplified v.2015).
Although Paul did not tell Timothy to abandon ministry to take take care of himself, he did give a strong warning: “Pay close attention to yourself…” and he even tied it in to ensuring one’s salvation. Yes, it really is a matter of life and death.
There exists a tendency in the DNA of man’s fallen human nature: we equate knowledge of a thing with actual life experience and practice. [Consider that Adam and Eve choose the Tree of Knowledge over the Tree of Life.] We read a best-seller book on healthy eating and exercise. Excitedly, we tell others. Start our own club. Even go through training to become certified trainers. Yet, with all that, we can so easily slip into neglecting follow the regimen with which we so passionately coached others!
The Pharisees in Jesus’ day had reached an apex of religious knowledge. They knew it all, taught it all, and personally neglected it all! To make matters far worse and much more complicated, pride (more stuff in the DNA of our fallen nature) blinded them. “Knowledge puffs up” (1 Cor 8:1 NKJV). To a terrifying extreme, they preoccupied themselves in maintaining their professional façade. The end result? Frightening! They criticized, rejected, and condemned to crucifixion Jesus – the very embodiment of the “Word” about which they thought they possessed so much knowledge!
How ironic! Like a person becoming so busy promoting the benefits of drinking water that he suffers dehydration! In Isaiah 29 (the chapter Jesus quotes in His harshest rebuke to the scribes and Pharisees. See Mat 15:3-14; Mark 7:6-13), the prophet paints a frightening illustration of the dangers of this kind of deception:
“As when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating, and awakes with his hunger not satisfied,
Or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he is drinking, and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched…” (Isa 29:8 ESV).
Any ministry can suffer this same fate. Even with the most passionate vision, we can easily become (in Jesus’ words) “blind leaders of the blind” and both the leaders and those being lead can “fall into a ditch” (Mat 15:14 NKJV). And how deep that ditch can be!
“God forbid!” (KJV) or “May it never be!” (NASB) – to use the Apostle Paul’s favorite expression. Paul was extremely serious about this. He was determined to finish his race and ministry “with joy” and he was not “disobedient to the heavenly vision” (Acts 20:24; 26:19). Paul uses this analogy:
“But [like a boxer] I buffet my body [handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships] and subdue it, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit [not stand the test, be unapproved and rejected as a counterfeit]” (1 Cor 9:27 Amplified Bible).
Balanced Health – physically, emotionally, spiritually – is something I want. It is something I desperately need to elevate and hold on to personally – for my sake, my wife’s sake, my family’s sake, and for the sake of those precious eternal souls with whom God brings us into community. I think I’ll start with the following prescription:
(1) Humble myself, recognizing that knowledge does not automatically equate with experience and practice.
(2) Humble myself, acknowledging my desperate need for a powerful incarnational life “from on high” working deep inside me to clothe the dry bones of knowledge with flesh and blood.
(3) Humble myself, slowing down intentionally to bare my heart, soul, and mind before the Light of the Word.
(4) Humble myself, bringing my wife and family into a rhythm of whole-being wellness checkups and time-outs.
(5) Humble myself, being transparent and vulnerable before those with whom God brings us into community, seeking to disciple others with life and not mere words.
“…for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” ( 1 Tim 4:16).