-data (n.)–facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis
-fitness tracker (n.)–a wearable device that monitors your physical activities and provides data on your fitness progress
-You can’t quantify God or the Word.
–field notes, 2023
-“…Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness…”
–Matthew 23: 27-28
Right before I wrapped up my teaching career, I bought a fitness tracker. I’d spent years walking several miles a day around my classroom and across the school; moving forward (no pun intended), I’d need to be more intentional with my exercise, or risk waking up with the retirement version of the “freshman fifteen.”
Yay, me…right? Way to be proactive, Shelbo!
Except…one evening, right before bedtime, I was pacing around the house, trying to get in those last few steps to hit my daily goal. When I reached the kitchen (and the magic number), watch buzzing, I found myself, not in a spirit of celebration…but one of…confusion, trepidation, and…okay…disgust. “What did I just DO?!” I spat out. “Freakin’ ri-donk-ulous!”
It was supposed to be about my health. The data was only meant to be a guide, not a prescription. I mean, did I really believe that for the rest of my life, every single day, that goal would be unerringly attained…and if it wasn’t, if I didn’t see “10,000” on that stupid, little screen, that I had somehow failed?!
Ugh.
And to what end does that mindset lead?
My brain hopped to other applications…
I thought of all those white-washed tombs, strutting through their lives with their routines, their rituals…practices stripped of meaning, void of humility, bloated with pride. Empty as it all was, it didn’t stop them from flexing.
“I have followed all those commands since I was a boy.” (Luke 18:21, emphasis mine)
“God, thank You that I’m not like that slimy tax collector over there.” (Luke 18:11, Shelbo paraphrase)
They had all the data. “See, see?! Look at ME!”
“Oh, crap!” I gasped.
Do I have a faith fitness tracker?! One that logs intensity minutes of prayer, segments of spiritual activity, steps of service? And…do I feel, if I don’t reach the prescribed amounts for the day, that I’ve fallen short?
The answer is yup, yup, and yup!
I can get so sidetracked sometimes…okay…often. Focused on the data, the performance…rather than the overall health of my relationship with Him.
With the state of my heart.
I can have the very best intentions. I’m sure the Pharisees did, too…but look what happened…
They never missed a tithe, but completely missed Jesus.
Which way was I headed?
Would I get caught, going through the motions of some arbitrary program…set by me…checking off boxes, instead of checking in with the Lord?
Or…this…
(Hebrews 12:1-2) …And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
(Acts 20:24) But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
It’s not my race. It’s His.
His race…and His grace.
So, in the middle of the night, in the middle of my kitchen, I tore off that spiritual fitness tracker, and tossed it away.
It’s about God…
and Jesus…
and the Holy Spirit…Who doesn’t count our steps…but DIRECTS them.