In January 2014, I wrote a short article in a reform magazine (I’m that old) entitled “Crossfit Religion.” In it we discussed some ideas about this relationship with this new fitness trend and what the church will learn from this growing community.
CrossFit itself found and published this article, giving us incredible social media credibility for at least a day or two.
I highlighted five aspects of CrossFit that I felt were related to the church. 1) CrossFit welcomes everyone. 2) CrossFit is absurdly authentic, 3) CrossFit is demanding, 4) CrossFit is co-pastoral, 5) CrossFit is missionary.
Over the past decade, there have been a lot of changes with CrossFit. It saw enormous numbers and fiscal growth. Sponsors like Reebok, televised competitions on ESPN have pushed the sport from the scary communities in garages and strip malls to the sense of global fitness. However, the meteor rise was rather short-lived. Recently, CrossFit has experienced a rather large decline.
There are many reasons for the decline and are relevant. The reality is that CrossFit started as an innovative approach to fitness, but now faces new competition. Other fitness programs such as functional bodybuilding and Highlocks are becoming more and more popular. Similarly, CrossFit feels the impact of changing health habits as some individuals prioritize lower impact options in their exercise. In addition to the decline, there are also changes in demographics. Fewer young people will participate. This is a major membership to CrossFit.
However, not all of the CrossFit reductions are due to external circumstances and pressure. The brand is also facing internal confusion. The change in leadership disrupts CrossFit’s continuity and direction. Safety concerns most prominently present in the deaths of competitors during the 2024 CrossFit game have generated voice criticism of CrossFit leadership by some of the sport’s main names. These issues, along with the financial struggles of some of the local gym affiliates, have led to greater distrust of the brand. Many gyms continue to offer high-intensity training, but have decided to drop the CrossFit name either because of costs or the desire to stay away from branded luggage. As a result, CrossFit lost its local gym affiliate marketing and is being listed again for its second time since 2020.
All this brings me back to the church. Like many others, I have deep concern about the future of the Church in North America. I spent another day last week at a workshop that helped the pastor imagine and implement strategies for the church’s future. It was a good workshop that naming our reality, offering hope without a simple plan for success. The church faces many external and internal challenges. Decreasing demographics, other forms of community, and poor leadership and internal departments are all real threats to the health of the North American Church.
While sitting in the workshop, I had a hard time getting CrossFit to get out of my head. I’m not a sociologist, but my context seems to continue to fall through institutional communities and even brands. Whether it’s CrossFit or the church, interest in each of them seems to be waning. The lack of desirable relevance appears to be from above. People have less connections with CrossFit, but show more loyalty to the local gym. Church members are unlikely to identify with a wider denomination, but they may still value their local congregations. Still, even those connections look even more tenuous.
In the midst of these questions, I experienced strange peace and resolve. What we are experiencing is not just the issue of the church, but we have found peace in that we are, in part, players in the game. You can’t “fix” what’s going on in the church alone.
Rather than leaving me with a sense of hopelessness, I realized it was a comforting experience.
Will CrossFit survive? I don’t really care. I’m passionate about health and happiness. My loyalty isn’t a brand, it’s a healthy lifestyle.
Will the church survive (at least as we know it)? Maybe I shouldn’t care about it as much as I do.
More and more I discover that my highest calling is directing people towards Christ. Most of my surroundings still feel ok despite being frustrated with the brand. My church style will evolve, or maybe it will die. Either way, it will serve that purpose. Either way, it would have directed people towards Christ. And the same spirit that brought the Church to the present reality leads it over the centuries.
