Block 10, Condition (Bot9 #123)

Condition - Block 10, John Wooden's Pyramid of Success by Keith Wahl

We spending a lot of time on physical conditioning, don't we? Every athletic program worth its salt has an element of physical conditioning, often in the form of a strength and conditioning program. High school and college athletes today know the value of physical conditioning after they finish with sports. Those habits bleed into the habits of adult life as well. 24-Hour Fitness posts annual revenues of 1.3 billion dollars, and the supplement store GNC has an annual revenue figure approaching 3 billion dollars. It seems that we care about our bodies.

The third line of blocks in the Wooden Pyramid of Success begins with Condition. Wooden's focus is not only on the physical, but on the mental and moral condition as well. Much in the same way, the Apostle Paul preached the value of physical condition, but paid far more attention to the heart of the matter:

1 Timothy 4:7-8, "Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come."

Wooden came to a greater understanding of Condition as he grew as a coach. While he would encourage his teams to be the best conditioned teams as a younger coach, he began to understand that the things that happen in between the times in the gym were just as important:

"As coach, my responsibility was to run effective practices. Their responsibility occurred between practices. They understood that a lack of proper conduct, deficient rest and an improper diet would keep them from attaining and maintaining their best possible conditioning. Moreover, they couldn't produce their best without the physical conditioning being preceded by mental, moral and spiritual conditioning. A failure to address mental, moral and spiritual conditioning will limit even the best physical conditioning."

Isn't it amazing how much our society has changed in terms of conditioning? We'll condition our athletes physically and mentally. We'll spend resource upon resource on those areas. But, when it comes to moral and spiritual conditioning, we choose the easy way out and encourage relativism. Terms such as "their truth" or "our own truth" have pervaded our culture. To seek the greatest possible condition for our lives and souls, we must pursue Godliness as Paul encouraged his young disciple, Timothy.