5.10.2005

Lord's Gym

I just saw this commercial, twenty seconds ago. My first response, my only possible response, was to rush to my computer like it was the first toilet I'd seen for 20 miles on the interstate after a Sonic chili dog.

The commercial announced the grand opening of Lord's Gym, a place where you can go to enrich your body and your spirit at the same time. At first, I just assumed it was somebody's last name or something. That's what I wanted to believe. But the mural of Almighty God on the wall next to the indoor running track with a bubble next to his head saying, "You can run a 10-minute mile, thus sayeth the Lord!" convinced me otherwise. (Okay, I made up the head bubble, but not the mural. And the head bubble would come as no surprise.)

And I was worried about being judged at a normal gym.

I was trying to get Chris's attention to show him God's Chosen Gymnasium when the logo popped up at the tail end of the commercial. You guys, it was a drawing of Jesus, with the cross on his back, and it looked like he was doing a push-up. With the cross on his back. I think...I'm going to be sick. I paused it on that logo and rewound it so Chris could hear the peppy synth music behind it and get the full effect.

"Chris, look at this. It's called Lord's Gym."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, and they're really talking about the Lord."

"Oh, that's just..."

"Yeah, and look at this..."

"Oh Lord."

I honestly tried for a good 10 seconds to think the best of the situation. Maybe their hearts are in the right place. Maybe they're not just trying to shamelessly capitalize on something the majority of the population holds sacred for a buck. Maybe the point of the Jesus logo...wait, I just said "Jesus logo". No. Uh-uh. Not today.

The only thing I can figure is that they're counting on a big audience of people who think of religion and exercise exactly the same way: something they participate in occasionally to make them feel better about themselves without actually having to change.

This is both funny and sad to me, but I think if the two conflicting emotions settled their differences mano y mano, sad would win.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

the logo represents the love of Jesus Christ for mankind. When we look at this picture, we should drop to our knees and be thankful of what he has done for all of us.

The gym was formed over 12 years ago to reach young people. The gym got many kids off the street into a place where Christ is lifted up and lives are radically changed.

Read Psalm 24:1 It tells us "the earth is the Lords and everything in it". He owns all things-why not a gym?

The hearts of those who started the gym were not to make a profit for themselves, only a profit for the Kindom

Best regards.