Why It Takes Faith to See Christian Principles In the YMCA

When can you see the "C" in the YMCA? What makes it obvious? When do you know that you are living our Christian principles in the Y? How would you know others are - or are not?

If you go looking for trouble, you’re going to find it eventually.

A Hebrew rabbi put it this way: “seek and you will find.”

But if you go looking for success, victory, the power to overcome, and the strength to endure, while nothing is guaranteed, the odds will usually be in your favor.

An old Hebrew saint made a big deal about a common principle: “you reap what you sow.”

When it comes to the mission of the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association), here are a couple of observations:

IF it’s important to you to put Christian principles into practice in your YMCA, then do it, and don’t worry about those who you don’t think about doing it, just do it in your little corner of the Y: you will reap what you sow! (This includes your attitude: hope or resentment, joy or despair, love or indifference, etc.)

IF you’re not sure what it means to put Christian principles into practice in your Y, and you’re a little tentative about it, you really want to do it the right way and not offend anyone in the process: “seek and you will find” what you are looking for. (This is shaped by your attitude: expectant or timid, energized or doubtful, expansive or stingy).

IF you’re always worried about those who are worried about “Christian principles” in our mission, guess what: you’ll pretty much only notice and get fixated on that and their worries, which only creates more reasons to worry and self-fulfilling prophecies. And if you’re looking to do battle in the Y over the “C”, you’ll find it.

But let’s be honest about Christ’s Presence and Christian Principles in the YMCA: it takes faith to see it (obviously…).

What do I mean? Well when Jesus walked the streets of Jerusalem, people first saw a man from Nazareth, very few in the crowd could also see he was the Christ. Why would that be different today?

The New Testament Gospels are explicit: Jesus ascended from our sight into the clouds – we literally cannot see the crucified and resurrected Jesus Christ in the world or the YMCA.

Apostle Paul explains, however, that those who trust Jesus mystically become part of the Body of Christ in the world. This reality only happens by faith, can only be experienced by faith, and can only be seen with the eyes of faith. Thus, obviously, it’s hard to see the “C” in the YMCA – it takes faith.

Hence without eyes and attitude of faith, all the actions and commitments of the YMCA can be explained away sociologically, economically, culturally, psychologically, etc.

Christian Principles can easily become “religious principles” which then become “common ethical principles” – but for Christians participating in the YMCA, how to see those same actions as embodied faith, hope, and love in Christ?

That’s, frankly, what’s so daunting and divisive about living by God’s grace through faith in Christ: sometimes our everyday lives look like everyone else’s: get up in the morning, get family off to school or yourself to work, do chores at home, serve your community, enjoy a tasty dinner, try and get some good sleep and do it all again tomorrow, hoping for a little fun and relaxation on the weekend.

Apostles Peter and Paul advocate in different ways for this kind of quiet solid peaceful honest way of life for Christ’s little ones wherever they had homes across the Roman Empire.

So when does a life of faith with Christ matter, when do Christian principles matter in a Y, when do you “see” them, when does it become obvious of their presence and reality?

Maybe you won’t like my answer, maybe you’ll come up with a better suggestion, but here’s my take on it from my experience:

When we suffer.

When chaos breaks out.

When the pain crushes our soul.

When the sick and dying are abandoned by the healthy.

When the lonely and broken are overlooked by the strong.

When the violence and the tears seem unstoppable.

This might seem overly dramatic, but it’s how history has played itself out for those who trust Jesus enough to imitate him in life, in suffering, amidst humanity as it really is.

This has also been the YMCA at its best.

It’s also the source of the YMCA, our foundation, our roots.

So if you’re not seeing Christ’s Presence in the Y, maybe you’re avoiding suffering and the pain of others too much.

If you’re not seeing Christian Principles put into practice in the Y, maybe you are playing it too safe in the Y.

Budgets matter, safety matters, and cleanliness matters, but what’s the point of it if not to create a welcoming AND healing place for all – which means being with people in their brokenness, hurt, worries, confusion, sorrow, and despair.

Which is not easy. It can often require faith to see them with eyes of compassion and have a heart full of love to do whatever it takes for them when you are already worn out and a little broken yourself.

It’s easy to point out the many faults of a local Y, of ways they let members and staff down; those observations and experiences take no faith to see.

What does take faith though, if you’re a Christian in the Y, is how Christ is at work in every volunteer, member, and staff bringing good out of every situation.

It takes faith to see God bringing about his will and desires through the individuals and organization, especially when there are so many things going wrong.

If you want to see stronger Christian Principles put into practice in your Y, first, use your eyes of faith to see how you are embodying them there. The temptation to focus on what others are doing (or not) can distract us from acting according to our conscience.

If you want to move beyond just your personal actions in your Y, ensure that what you are doing is with excellence and integrity, exemplary and inviting. If you’re going to be a role model for it, be a good one!

Depending on your role in the Y, you might feel a little helpless about making a difference. Ironically I know Y leaders at every level who feel hampered: a CEO who feels a lack of support, a front desk staffer who feels isolated, and coordinators and directors who feel on their own. Yet, if every single one of them just started to be a little more intentional, confident in Christ, and open-hearted to all around them, over time they’d see some amazing results.

Faith as small as a seed is still more than enough to start growing!

What are some tangible and productive actions you can take as a step of faith to personally put Christian principles into practice:

• pray for one or two different people at the Y everyday

• have a key Scripture verse on top of your mind as you go about your work each day

• keep an inspiring praise song/hymn in your heart as you encounter each task and responsibility

• be prepared in your spirit to truly listen to each person who has something to say: a critique or complaint, a suggestion or improvement, a story or testimony

• connect with a few Christians each week for encouragement and feedback

• run your program / department / office / projects with loving excellence, wise competence, and faithful consistency

• see Jesus at work in you, helping you grow in grace and wisdom through hardship and difficulties in the Y and life

• look for opportunities to give credit to God when sharing about success, overcoming, enduring, and making sacrifices.

• keep digging deeper into the story of the YMCA, of George Williams and his Christian faith, and how it built a foundation for our organization

• enjoy talking about what “Christian principles” can mean in your Y experience – avoid a “right/wrong” approach; instead, pursue an ongoing conversation that includes a continuing grounding in the life and person of Christ Jesus while also becoming more inclusive and welcoming for all.

• cultivate personal habits of abiding in Christ, building awareness of the presence of God in the Y, and becoming attentive to the prompts of the Holy Spirit toward actions of service, caring, and leadership.

• don’t underestimate the powerful influence of one person acting under conviction and with compassion; over time this yields compelling outcomes as it draws in more individuals who together accomplish more good for all in the Spirit of Christ

• be patient, be kind, don’t be envious of others’ success and avoid boasting about your achievements; putting Christian principles into practice requires faith, hope, and love not coercion, haste, or worry

• have confidence that God will complete what is started in Christ through the Y – I know, I know, sometimes it’s hard to see it or believe it, like we’ve been saying, that’s why it requires faith, hand in hand, together!

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This post first published August 2023 at timhallman.org