By Micah Jackson
Picture in your mind a stereotypical pastor. Regardless of denomination, gender, or age, the pastor you’re picturing is probably at least a little bit overweight. It makes sense, really. Pastors are, by and large, holding jobs with irregular hours that take place mostly in offices or homes. They drive cars from one place to another. Most hosts will feel like they should offer the pastor a slice of coffee cake, at least, if not a full meal with dessert! No wonder the pastor in your mind is somewhat pudgy.
But this is not just a fantasy situation for many pastors. A recent survey by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America found that 72% of pastors are suffering from poor nutrition, 62% are experiencing health threatening stress or depression, 60% have hypertension. Studies done by other denominations show similar results. Pulpit and Pew, in a cross-denominational survey of more than 2,500 Christian clergy, found that more than three-quarters of pastors are heavier than they should be—much higher than the general population, which itself is alarmingly overweight.
Christian history is filled with varying theologies of the body. Some say that the body, as part of this material world, is inherently evil and a prison for the soul. Some would suggest, to the contrary, that the Incarnation shows the body as part of God’s inherently good creation, and therefore to be cared for as the rest of creation. St. Paul famously wrote, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God?” (1 Cor 6:19) No wonder most clergy have decided not to think about it.
The temptation is to respond to such a crisis the way Americans often do, by throwing money at the problem, through programs, or pills. A whole industry has arisen around weight-loss, and it includes a wide range of people, from surgeons in the wealthiest neighborhoods in the country to people who stoop down to pick herbs from the ground that others hope will melt away fat or block carbohydrate absorption, or some such. King Solomon advised “put a knife to your throat if you have a big appetite.” (Proverbs 23:2) Probably he didn’t imagine literally “going under the knife” for weight-loss surgery, but perhaps only because it had never occurred to him.
The crude measures of body mass, like gross weight, or the BMI, may be good estimates of fitness in the minds of insurance companies. Still, true “fitness” can only be measured in comparison to a concrete task. “Fitness for what?” must be the question. And for that, as always, we must listen for the voice of God. To what work is God calling you, and is your body up to the challenge? If you were more physically fit, could you do more for the Kingdom?
In her book Honoring the Body: Meditations on a Christian Practice, Stephanie Paulsell tells the story of a “father of a disabled child who runs each day and lifts weights several times a week so that even when he has grown old, he will be able to lift his daughter from her wheelchair, carry her to the car, settle her into the bath.” This man does not seek trophies, medals, or even a souvenir t-shirt. But surely he is “fit for the Kingdom of God.” So are those who are called to weed the garden in the park, or walk the neighborhood in a community policing initiative, or swing a hammer on a Habit for Humanity house. They, too, honor God, and serve their fellow humans, with their physical bodies.
This is not to say that those who choose to run marathons or lift heavy barbells cannot do so in such a way as to bring glory to God. Indeed, many do. I myself have been training for a marathon as a way of getting more fit for whatever God may call me to do. Feel free to follow along, or read more of my thoughts on fitness, on my website, ironpriest.org.
I’ve found that training for the marathon to get more fit has helped me in many ways. Sure, I’ve lost about 20 pounds, my pulse rate and blood pressure are down, and I look and feel much better. But, I’ve also learned that many of the things I used to think of as insignificant matter very much to God. The food I eat, the choices I make about what to say yes to, about time management, about goal setting, about pacing, each of these things has helped to bring me more in touch with my body, fearfully and wonderfully made, one of my first gifts from God.
Clergy have important jobs, and many of us are unfit to the task, or will become so long before we should, because of our poor attention to health. We owe ourselves, our fellow-workers, our parishioners, our God, more than that. We love God with not only our heart, and soul, and mind, but also with our strength.
The Rev. Micah Jackson is a priest of the Diocese of Chicago, currently living in Berkeley, Calif. He is a doctoral student in Homiletics at the Graduate Theological Union. His personal blog is St. Jerome’s Library.