P90X and Christianity

Yesterday I was chatting with a buddy of mine (I’ll call him Robin. Well, actually that is his name), but anyway, he mentioned that he was doing P90X. I was intrigued. I knew by looking at him that he must be early in the program. No offense, Robin. Upon asking him, he confirmed what I expected. He’s only been on the program for a week. I mentioned plyometrics, which is the 2^nd day workout and he said that he hasn’t done it yet. “But it’s one of the first routines,” I responded with quizzical furrowed eyebrows. “Well, I’m not doing it every day,” he replied to which I countered, “Then you’re not doing P90X! Don’t say you are if you aren’t. You have to do it every day for 90 days. That’s where the 90 comes from in P90X and the X means extreme, because it is.” To which he raised his eyebrows and walked away.

Much in the same way as my buddy “does” P90X, many people who claim to be Christians do the Christian walk. They claim to be Christians, but by watching them you would never know that they are Christians. Ok, wait a second; I think I need to change the use of pronouns from “they” to “me” and “I” and speak to the man in the mirror because I’m as guilty as anybody. It reminds me of a recent pastor I heard speak. He said that he was lunching for the first time with another pastor and he was telling this pastor about all of his accomplishments and how big a Christian he is and the other pastor replied, “I’ll watch you for a while and then I’ll tell you what kind of man you are.” Ouch! But the sentiment is true. The first Christ followers were named Christians by people who watched them living like Christ. The same is true for me today, 2000 years later. People should know that I’m a Christian by the way I act, not by the words I speak. My words are cheap. Loving and serving God and other people is where the action is…but it can be the hard part at times because people can be quite unlovable. God never said it would be easy, but guess what? Jesus loved these same people enough to be beat, spat upon, whipped and nailed to the Cross with 12 inch spikes and to call myself a Christian, I am supposed to act like Christ. Now I call that extreme love.