The Crossfit Community

I had another remarkable day at crossfit yesterday.  We did the workout called “Angie” which is 100 pull ups, 100 push ups, 100 sit ups, and 100 squats.  One hundred repetitions of any one of those movements would be a complete and difficult workout by itself.  But combine them and you have a recipe for immeasurable pain and suffering. Now that I can do a real pull up I was able to do the workout as prescribed and posted the third best gym time for a woman – 28:17 (almost 20 minutes was spent on the pull ups alone.)  This morning I’m very proud of myself, but also VERY sore.

I would have not been able to complete this workout if I had been alone.  One of the things that struck me so strongly yesterday is the communal aspect of crossfit.  Five times a week I get together with a group of insane people and we force our bodies to do unbelievable things.  The slogan for crossfit is “Forging Elite Fitness” and of course this is true, but it would not be possible without the community.  I got to pull up number 82 and could have easily quit, but my coach was in my ear spurring me on, he knew I had more in me even though I wanted to stop.  Because I had friends around me encouraging me and believing in me, I completed the workout and posted a good time.  If I had been alone, I would have quit and failed.

Crossfit is such a good example of how ordinary people can overcome enormous obstacles and achieve great things together.  But the only way it is possible is in community.  Our lives as followers of Christ is no different.  Alone, I may set big goals for myself and strive to be faithful to the Lord, but I often fail because there is no one walking beside me.  But in a community of faith when we are working towards the same goal and supporting and encouraging one another we can finish the race together.  We can resist the temptation to doubt and fear because together we are strong.  Without accountability and support I would not only fail in crossfit but in my spiritual walk as well.

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11

“But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. ” Hebrews 3:13

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. ” Hebrews 10:24-25