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Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Hebrews 12:1,2 NLT

The first rule of CrossFit is to always talk about CrossFit, so today I’m going to tell you about the most wonderful (and painful) time of the year: the few weeks in the spring called the CrossFit Open! Anyone who attends a CrossFit box (neé gym), can and is encouraged to participate. A new workout is released each Thursday during the Open, and athletes have until the following Monday to complete the workout and submit their scores. There’s a scoring and judging system in place to keep everyone honest, and the elite among us advance to the next stage of competition with the ultimate goal being to compete at the CrossFit Games later in the year.

Along with the announcement of the new workout, CrossFit Headquarters livestreams a pair of professional CrossFit athletes completing the workout. After that, experts release videos and articles with tips and strategies specific to the movements involved. Then it’s time for us regular folks to give it a go, following the examples of those who have gone before us. At my box the Open workouts are always programmed on Fridays, and the electric atmosphere on those days paves the way for achieving goals not met under normal circumstances. It’s an amazing thing to be a part of!

There’s the CrossFit you see on TV and hear jokes about, then there’s the CrossFit gym down the street or in your hometown. The camaraderie and community within the walls of a box are unrivaled...except in the Christian community.

There’s CrossFit, and then there’s CrossFit.

We endure the struggle of the latest CrossFit workout for what waits at the end: a good score and the sense of accomplishment that follows a challenging workout. Jesus is our Champion and the pioneer that has gone before us. Let’s study the way He lived! He suffered on earth and endured the shame of the cross, and he did it with his eyes on the prize: the joy that was to come. Each of us runs the race God has set before us in the presence of a “huge crowd of witnesses.” The Christian community is there to cheer one another on, because the race gets long, y’all, and hard! We have been given the power to create the kind of atmosphere where our brothers and sisters are able to do amazing things they otherwise wouldn't be able to do on their own. 

We’ve done lots of virtual cheerleading this year, but as we draw closer to Easter we’re seeing the light at the end of some proverbial tunnels: warmer weather and sunshine after a cold, gray, damp winter; improvement in Covid numbers and vaccinations means we’re seeing restrictions beginning to be lifted. Let’s strip off all that’s been weighing us down this past year and look ahead to a time in the near future when we can all be together in person again!

Let’s take a minute and pray for Covid numbers to continue to trend down, vaccination numbers to continue to go up, and for restrictions to be wisely and responsibly lifted.

Do you know someone on an uphill stretch of their “race” right now? Take a moment to ask God how you can best be of encouragement to them today.

Thank you, God, for our church community! Let’s pray and ask how we might be of encouragement to our church staff and volunteers during this season of transitioning back to in person gathering.