The Need for Muscular Christianity

One of my heroes is JC Ryle. I want to emulate him in many ways. I have read several biographies about him and I am amazed at the kind of life and influence that he had. He was married 3 times and buried each of his wives. Two of his wives were very ill and bed ridden for many years in the prime of their lives. This placed a large burden on Ryle- not only to provide income, but also to take care of children- one of whom was disabled. But Ryle did not complain.

He endured many hardships- poverty (family went bankrupt); caring for family members that were ill; and attacks by critics. Despite his trials, he preached thousands of sermons; wrote over 20 books; and probably led thousands to Christ in his life. His most famous writing is Holiness. It is one of the classic books of the Christian faith. But you cannot go wrong reading anything that he wrote. In fact, if you want a terrific tool to study the gospels, you should buy his Exposition of the Gospels series. You can obtain it here at a bargain price:

One of JC Ryle's beliefs was that we needed a more muscular form of Christianity. He was a bishop in the Anglican church (modern day Episcopal). The term muscular Christianity was coined in the 19th century as a reaction to the effeminate leanings of the Anglican church in the 1800's. Men were dropping out of church life. The church became more and more irrelevant to men. There are similar problems and conversation in the church today.

Ryle believed that we needed a more strenous form of Christianity and that men needed to step up and be tough/tender leaders. Tough exterior with tender hearts. Ryle's belief was that we needed to train our bodies physically so that we could serve God with vitality; protect the weak; defend what is true and subdue the earth as stewards of God's resources.

The muscular Christianity movement spawned many good things- including the YMCA and a sport that I love- basketball. I have been meditating on the need in my own life to be tough and to instill that toughness into my son and daughter. We need tough men and women who will live and die by convictions and values but who also have the humility to be broken and shaped by a transforming God.

Here are four values that relate to the need for muscular Christianity that I wish to reinforce daily in my life and the life of my family:

1. Embrace discipline in all areas of life. But specifically discipline in the areas of spending; giving; saving; eating; exercise; sleeping; time management and reading. I can improve in every one of these areas. Being a muscular Christian means to me that I need to exercise daily the spiritual disciplines that will lead me into a more Christ-like life.

2. Do all things without complaining- Philippians 2:14. There is nothing more unattractive that a discontent heart. To be a muscular Christian means that I will look for joy in all circumstances- I Thessalonians 5:18- and will put to death my ungrateful, complaining nature.

3. Embrace and persevere through trials. Life is tough. It is tough to keep a good attitude many days. We have financial, health, relationship and marital problems to work through. It never goes as smoothly as we envision in our minds. I have found the secret to being happy is to have very low expectations of this life and very high expectations of the heaven that God has promised to those who love Him.

4. Fight daily. I like and admire fighters. My wife is this way. She has incredible health challenges to deal with, but she is a fighter. We have enemies to face- sin; death; illness; worldliness (consumerism- the god of this age); evil. These enemies will plow us over if we don't go on the offensive. We need to aggressively fight these things by being obedient to the will of God. Of course, death will conquer each of us physically. But if we fight with the power of God's Spirit, we will be able to say with Paul: "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"- I Corinthians 15:55.

We need a more vigorous, muscular Christianity. We need some JC Ryle's in this age to lead us by example in applying the truths of God to life and leading our families into a kingdom which cannot be shaken.

For His Glory,

Ashley Hodge