In early July I decided it was time to start running again. I used to be an avid runner when I lived in Kentucky. I had a friend who was also an athletic trainer and would run with me at obscene hours in the morning before we both had to go to work. Sometimes we would meet at 4 in the morning to run 10 miles together before we both had to be at work at 6. When I moved to Connecticut to be closer to family and friends I lost my running buddy. I still went for occasional runs but it’s harder to stay focused with out someone else who is depending on your mutual encouragement.
Then I got married and my husband and I faced a lot of major life things. We had our daughter, his mom was getting sicker and sicker, she died, we moved houses 3 times in a year and a half…
Anyway in July after too many years and being way out of shape I decided I wanted to get back into running. I knew it would be a very very slow process. After a couple weeks of running on my own I decided to meet up with a local running group one Saturday. I knew I would be running by myself because I was so slow but I was tired of running our very hilly neighborhood and was looking for some new safe routes.
The thing is that I actually didn’t run by myself, they wouldn’t let me.
I was only going to run 2 miles at a pace that these 3 other women could walk at, but they slowed way down and went with me for 2 miles before they headed out for a much longer and faster run together.
Dripping from sweat after a group run.
I was so grateful for their encouragement and company while they helped me finish something that was hard for me but super easy for them. And it cost them, it cost them time and energy and maybe a little frustration about the pace to stay with me. They never let on that they were in any way frustrated with the sacrifice.
Every Saturday that I’ve been in town this summer I’ve run with them. Every Saturday my speed has improved. Every Saturday I haven’t run alone, at least for a major portion of the run.
Yesterday was the first time we weren’t on a trail where I could run half of my mileage and then turn back while they continued on for significantly higher miles.
Yesterday we ran the course of a local upcoming 5k. The thing is I am super good at getting lost. I am even super good at being confident in my wrong directions, so much that I’ve been known to get others who know the way lost. Quite frankly my sense of direction is something friends and family joke about often and may have rightly frustrated my husband a time or two.
As the leader of the group was describing the course yesterday I must have looked worried. I voiced my nervousness about not getting back to my car.
I don’t know why I was worried, my previous experience was that this group takes care of each other, they run together.
A women who has been always a little faster than I can keep up with, always a little bit ahead of me on the trail slowed down to run with me through every turn of the course. She and some others where going to go on for another 7 miles. She stayed with me until the very last turn where I would just have to stay on the same road for 3/10 of a mile to get to my car. She helped me push my pace to run the fastest I have so far, and those she was running on with stopped to wait for her as she got me on my way to the finish line.
I must have apologized 75 times for slowing her down because at one point she said, “this is what our group does, we stay with each other and encourage each other. No one comes to a group run because they want to run alone.”
As I ran the last 3/10 of a mile to my car I couldn’t stop thinking that maybe a lot of Christians could learn something about being Christ like from my running group.
As I approached the parking lot I noticed that two people who had been significantly farther ahead of me where waiting for me to finish, to make sure I hadn’t accidentally turned somewhere and gotten lost, to ensure I finished the race course.
All throughout the New Testament we are given examples of older (older meaning more experienced not necessarily older in age) Christians coming along side those who might not be as skilled or experienced in their walk with Christ.
The entire chapter of Titus 2 asks older men and women in the faith to take on the very important task of teaching the younger Christians.
In Christian circles we call this process of older Christians teaching the younger Christians discipleship.
Discipleship is kind of like my running group, spending time to slow down and help people who aren’t as fast as you. Discipleship takes time and effort, it’s a sacrifice.
I’ve been on both the receiving end and the giving end of discipleship.
Discipleship, the act of repeatedly slowing down to run along side a slower brother or sister in Christ is closely linked with fellowship.
Hebrews 10:24-25 says “and let us consider how to stir one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, often read at weddings, also talks about the importance of Christian fellowship
It says “two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls down one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls down and has no one to help them up. Also if two lie down together they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three is not easily broken.”
I think sometimes as Christians we get so busy with life that we neglect both of these things. We have work and family and kids extracurricular stuff and volunteer obligations at church and all the activities.
It’s super easy to loose sight of the very important things because of all the business.
In churches in America we have so many programs we often loose sight of the personal responsibility to make discipleship and fellowship a priority. We rely on church programs to do the job for us.
We have small groups for adults, Sunday school for kids, youth group for teens… we think “well if so and so wanted to be in community they would come to all the things.”
Unfortunately over the last 10 months my husband and I experienced the perfect storm of lack of fellowship and discipleship due to circumstances beyond our control.
Walking through this very frustrating and stressful situation has really opened my eyes. I realized that it doesn’t cost me that much to reach out to another person or couple and invite them into fellowship. I realized that often there is more going on than what we can see on the surface, maybe there are circumstances beyond their control that are preventing them from participating in the church activities designed to provide fellowship and discipleship without much effort.
My mostly average life 