Legacy Church Blog

How to not feel like a rookie on Easter

Spandex, Foam Rollers and Top 40 music have more to do with Easter than you think. For years I worked as a personal trainer in various gyms and always knew that the first week of the year was our Super Bowl. In fact, there’s the potential for a gym to make enough money in the first six weeks of the year to pay for almost all of the overhead the remaining 11 months. Most of what the gym makes after Valentine's day is profit. Crazy.

People coming through the door in those timid weeks all looked pretty much the same - a bit lost, insecure, hesitant, regretful yet hopeful, and trying very hard to not look like a rookie. Swearing to make “this year different”, they’d use Jan. 1 as a rally point to see their life changed. For weeks they’d give it their best and the place would be packed, but by Valentine’s Day, it’s the same old gym rats left standing.

I feel like New Year’s is to gym attendance as Easter is to church attendance. People come a bit lost, insecure, hesitant, hopeful, and wondering if anyone can tell that they are new.

Most people I meet as a pastor that attend an Easter service after a long lapsed period are trying to - like at the gym - see their life changed. Easter is a rally point for many. If this is you, I have some pointers to make it easier for you to not feel so much like a rookie and be able to relax and feel at home in any church.

1. Like at the gym, most people have no idea that you are new. Obviously if you are in a smaller church or church plant, that might be different, but most churches over 120 people or so won’t detect your attendance record. Just walk in like you own the place.
2. Like a gym, there is really no need to dress up. Unspoken dress codes vary between church traditions, but most today won’t look like the churches you grew up in as a child. If you aimed at what you’d wear to work or date night, you’d be erring on overdressing, not under-dressing.
3. Like at a gym, the main thing is still the main thing even if stuff looks different. You may notice new “stuff”, like better projectors and church apps. Graphics and technology may be different than you remember, but Jesus is still the King, His good news is still our fascination, and connecting is still our desire.
4. Like a gym, after the first visit you can expect follow-up contact. Most churches will probably ask you to fill out a connect card of some kind. This isn’t to troll you but to serve you. If you don’t want to - don’t. If you do, you’ll likely get contacted by someone nervously trying to help.
5. Like at a gym, a good percentage of the people around you on will be just like you, non-average or new attenders wondering if people can see that they are too a rookie. You fit in much more than you actually know. They probably tried on different outfits that morning and have butterflies and awkwardness as much as you do.
6. The service will likely be shorter than normal. As a pastor I can tell you most pastors aim the service to go about 50-60% as long as normal. This is to make space for your family time. This is a way for churches to be hospitable and recognize your time constraints.

Unlike a gym, you won’t have to wipe the equipment after you use it, or hear men grunting and throwing things. Ke$ha will not be the music choice, and you really shouldn’t wear spandex - even if you’re feelin it.

Attending a new church is intimidating enough, but attending one when it’s been since Christmas or last Easter is something different entirely. I know I speak for other pastors when I say, we look forward to seeing you and hope you feel welcome.

Bodily Weakness Is Contagious

According to wise old king Solomon, our eyes are never satisfied.¹ This statement extends beyond beyond food, but food is a bit of a softball when it comes to applying Solomon’s words. If there’s room on the plate, then there is room for more food, right? I’d like to make the quick case that being weak in handling food/fitness can lead to weakness in other areas of life. Very simply, if we cannot buffet the body regarding food /fitness, we’ll find it an uphill climb with other desires of the flesh.

Obedience and discipline aren’t on a switch we can turn on / off depending on the current moment. In other words, I can’t be strong against lust when I eat whatever is in my sightline. I cannot contend well with anger when I contend poorly with overall bodily fitness. If I am soft when it comes to my mouth, I’ll be weak in other areas where the flesh is demanding. Weakness in one area equals weakness in more than one area. Thomas Boston once said, “They that would keep themselves pure must have their bodies in subjection, and that may require, in some cases, a holy violence.”

Basically, being soft in our bodies inclines us towards weakness and softness in our spiritual lives as well. Bodily weakness is contagious. I’m not making this up, but ripping it off from the Apostle Paul. Speaking to a church that struggled with the flesh out loud for all to see. “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things...So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”²

Paul is connecting the discipline he applies to the exterior man with the result in the inner man. He knew that being weak in discipline regarding his physical body will without a doubt drive towards spiritual weakness and possibly disqualification. Jerry Bridges agrees with Paul:

“When the body is pampered and indulged, the instincts and passions of the body tend to get the upper hand and dominate our thoughts and actions. We tend to do not what we should do, but what we want to do, as we follow the cravings of our sinful nature.”³  

Andrew Murray more bluntly says, “Overeating or eating for mere enjoyment, weights and makes the body heavy and unfit for prayer. That is the time the devil can come to you. A man may be living in victory over some sin but through the pleasure of eating the devil may get power over his flesh.”⁴

How we handle food and fitness is not an amoral issue outside of how we engage God, but a vital part of who we are as worshipers and disciples of Jesus. When strategy and discipline launch from this footing, it’s worshiping God. When discipline derives from what culture deems “beautiful” however it’s self-worship. This is why you can be fit and healthy and yet be in sin of self-worship. Step one is seeing weakness over your own body as a moral problem. Step two is developing a strategy for God’s honor, not your own.