Bodily exercise, St. Paul says, profiteth somewhat, or rather (as E.V.) is profitable for a little. It is as if an old man were writ- ing to a young man to-day, and should begin by saying: "Do not neglect your bodily health; take exercise daily; go to the gymnasium." But spiritual exercise, this writer goes on, has this superior quality, that it is good for both worlds, both for that which now is and for that which is to come. Therefore, " exercise unto godliness." " Take up those forms of spiritual athletics which develop and discipline the soul. Keep your soul in training. Be sure that you are in good spiritual condition, ready for the strain and effort which life is sure to demand."
124 THE VALUE OF GODLINESS
I.
The Value of Bodily Exercise.
"Bodily exercise is profitable for a little."
1. Two views have been held as to the meaning of the words "bodily exercise." Many refer it exclusively to those ascetic practices the excess of which St. Paul so severely condemns, such as forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats. If we take that meaning, then we learn that " bodily exercise," in the sense of the discipline of the flesh, has its use and its proper place in every Christian life. We cannot do without it. It is "profitable — for a little." That is to say, it is useful within narrow limits ; but it is only a means to an end, a part of a much larger whole ; the great thing is " exercise unto godliness." This is undoubtedly part of the lesson, but it can hardly be the exclusive meaning. To those to whom St. Paul wrote, the words " bodily exercise " would convey just the same meaning as they convey to us, viz., that exercise which is necessary for our bodies, which helps to develop our physical powers for useful ends.
In ancient times training of the body formed a larger part of general education. To excel in the gymnasium or to win the prizes at the games was to some men the highest ambition. Such an ambition, St. Paul tells us, is excellent in its way. It "is profitable for a little." It has its use. But it is not everything. There is a higher aim than this, one which does not exclude this lower one, but which dignifies it, regulates it, and places it in its ri^ht relation to all other aims and ideals. The aim of all aims is godliness. For that let us exercise ourselves, and then bodily exercise will fall into rank along with the exercise of mind, of conscience, of spirit, taking its noble part in enabling us to present the entire man, all his complex powers and energies, as a whole burnt-offering to be consumed in the service of God.
^ In old days the masters of an English public school concerned themselves with the work of the boys only, and did not trouble their heads about how the boys amused themselves out of school. Vigorous boys, organized games for themselves, and indolent boys loafed. Then it came home to school authorities that there was a good deal of danger in the method ; that lack of
I TIMOTHY IV. 8 125
employment was an undesirable thing. Thereupon work was increased, and, at the same time, the masters laid hands upon athletics and organized them. Side by side with this came a great increase of wealth and leisure in England, and there sprang up that astonishing and disproportionate interest in athletic matters which is nowadays a real problem for all sensible men. But the result of it all has been that there has grown up a stereotyped code among the boys as to what is the right thing to do. They are far less wilful and undisciplined than they used to be ; they submit to work, as a necessary evil, far more cheerfully than they used to do; and they base their ideas of social success entirely on athletics. And no wonder ! They find plenty of masters who are just as serious about games as they are themselves ; who spend all their spare time in looking on at games, and discuss the athletic prospects of particular boys in a tone of perfectly unaffected seriousness.^
2. " Bodily exercise is profitable for a little." Therefore, as it is profitable, it must not be forgotten. " A sound mind in a sound body " : there is no really sound and satisfactory thinking to be got from those whose bodily health is depressed by neglect or asceticism ; a good constitution is a great endowment to be able to place at the disposal of the Master. Therefore we may make our very bodily exercise part of a sacred curriculum. Nothing is more sorrowful, it is true, than to see a man who is only a well- developed animal ; nothing is more delightful than to see a man who combines with enjoyment of every healthy pursuit of recrea- tion and physical training a noble ambition to be possessed of a well-disciplined and fully-developed soul. For "godliness is profitable for all things." We are building an eternal fabric. We are perfecting that which, when the house of this tabernacle shall be dissolved, will inhabit " an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."