In Christian Theology 1 this semester at Northern Seminary, my fellow student theologians are learning under the brilliant Dr. Beth Felker Jones (who writes at
). We are being explicitly re-oriented to orthodox Christian doctrines that are so foundational to the faith that by the time you were in Sunday School (if you went there) you had likely been well-apprised of, for example, the goodness of creation and the Creator’s role in making it. No wizened teacher ever had to say to six-year-old me, or you most likely, Now I shall introduce to you the ‘Doctrine of Creation,’ because we already knew that God made the world and our bodies and he called it all good.But this week I was listening to an episode from the New Evangelicals podcast, in which several people tell their stories of serving at a well-known ministry in Kansas City. The name of the ministry doesn’t matter so much as does the nature of their experience, which is duplicated in many schools of ministry and ministry-intensive programs geared at young adults. The podcast guests described their experiences in the ministry as one of poverty, malnourishment, hunger, and other bodily discomforts. Some slept in literal closets. One slept in a sheet-rock-surrounded porch with no heat or A/C. One of the guests said it was a good week she was able to eat only eggs, broccoli, and almonds. They were kept too busy to have jobs outside of the ministry and so they grocery-shopped from the ministry’s food pantry. They gave every last ounce of their energy to the ministry, driven (it seems) by the notion that the denial of bodily needs for rest, nourishment, and relaxation would rack up more crowns for them in heaven, more spiritual reward.
But human beings are not just souls in incidental fleshy shells. Dr. Jones says it this way: “Scripture does not divide human beings into pieces in our relationships with God….The human being is not a soul in hostile relationship with a body. The human being is always one thing, one creature, in life before God.”1
One of the most scandalous heresies of the Christian faith is Gnosticism, which says the soul matters far more than the body. But our bodies cannot be incidental to the salvation of our souls, or Christ’s bodily resurrection—and our resurrection, the redemption of our bodies—would be superfluous, incidental, meaningless. The good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that he won victory over literal, physical death—because God wanted us to have and inhabit bodies—which he called good.
What the podcast guests describe about their experience at the ministry school is extreme, but there are shadowy parallels in our own churches, ministries, and ministry teams, whether we be church leaders or any member of the Body of Christ. I fear we subtly praise the denial of sabbath rest, wholesome food, and other forms of care for our or others’ good bodies when they are in a constant state of moving from one “spiritual” activity to the next.
Over the years, I’ve been guilty of skipping meals, stealing hours of sleep, and cutting corners on other kinds of bodily care so that I could squeeze in more “ministry.” Our bodies won’t fall apart if this happens once in a while, but when we make habits of short-changing the body because we think it stands between us and godliness, we have fallen into a kind of theological heresy.
Also, our bodies aren’t stupid. When they pick up on constant disregard for their needs, they tend to revolt by means of adrenal fatigue, weakened immune systems, or stress-induced illness. Mind you, I learned all this the hard way. But I’m getting much better at resisting the lie that “more” and “harder” spirituality, to the exclusion of the body’s needs, is somehow more holy.
To God be the glory.
Thanks for reading! I’m a book-obsessed pastor, podcaster, author, and holistic life and leadership coach. For essays and podcasts that come straight to your inbox, subscribe to this Dear Exiles newsletter in the subscription box above. Fun fact: I’m also the author of Dear Boy:, An Epistolary Memoir and the host of the Your Pastor Reads Books podcast.
Practicing Christian Doctrine: An Introduction to Living and Thinking Theologically (Beth Felker Jones)
Yes!