CrossFit Athletic Group

As I wrote in the preview, last year during lockdown Coach T wanted to challenge me on my faith, which we did over the course of a bunch of emails. He wanted me to share some of it on here and also would love to hear from you guys on the two main questions he posed.

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Surprisingly the only picture of me and Coach T on the site

Here's Coach T's original message

 So to answer you most recent question

“Why do I think you should publish this post.”

Well, you talk about community…….there is no better way to engage community than discussing faith.  It’s so funny, no one wants to talk about it.  It’s so taboo.  We are so worried about being politically correct and I used to be the same way.  But when you look at such a tight knit community like the Champions Club, I think it would be so cool to see everyone’s point of view on this.  It’s not so much, oh let’s look at Chris’s religion and judge him…….it’s more, oh wow this is what he was exposed to….here’s what I was exposed to and it’s interesting to see what other people were exposed to.  I mean….what’s Jay thinking about Jesus?  Does Buick “Regal” have a faith?  We can talk about everything under the sun but when it comes to faith, it needs to be private….why is that?

I challenge you like you challenged me to be open to a “different” way.  I had been taught a certain way and I believed that way (big chest, big butt, get the weight up!!!!) was the best way but over time I began to “see” the difference.  When I look at someone squatting I see something totally different than when I looked at someone squatting back in 2012.  All I’m asking is for you to “see” God NOT religion in a different way.  Religion means nothing to me because that is Man creating rules that I am supposed to follow.  

So I come back to these 2 questions:

1.  What is your purpose in life, why are you here?

2.  What is your relationship with Jesus?

I hope you can answer those two questions with sincere honesty, no matter what the answer, I’m not here to judge you, like I said I’m here to walk with you.  I will tell you my answer and we can talk about it…..nothing more.

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Here's what I wrote back for "what is your purpose in life, why are you here?"

I was at this meeting for The Family in like 2013 or something and was moving some boxes and stuff, when Coach Web said, “Nash (my nickname), you’re just a helper, aren’t you? I know because I’m one too.” That still comes up in my head all the time.

Sometimes it seems like there’s really only 5 categories of professions that people can have: builders, fixers, helpers, thinkers, and luxury work. I’m a point guard, quarterback, big cousin on both sides, and a coach. I think Coach Web got it right. I just love helping in general, and I get obsessive with it when I am part of something that I think can be great.

The obsessive thing has been popping in my mind lately. I can’t ever remember not being like that. This is a challenging question and is causing me to zoom out and peel stuff back. I’m just kind of writing as I’m thinking. I feel like that football coach from Middle Tennessee or wherever at the Sparty clinic if someone asked him why we should do squats. He would just kind of stare at you with drool down his mouth then say it builds mental toughness. I guess I really just trust my gut instinct and I’ve always wanted to help. So I’m sure there’s a good reason for that. And when I go to “that place” of obsession, I trust that too.

I would guess in the nature sense I am here to contribute to the ecosystem by eating, shitting, producing a baby, and then getting eaten myself, in no particular order. Our lives are so luxurious now that sometimes I might think I’m here to hold high standards at the Champions Club, or throw alley-oops to Justin McKinney. The actual jobs I have on earth are taken for granted. Now as for the reason why life exists in the first place, I don’t think that is our business to know. Just do our damn jobs, God knows.

And here's what I wrote back for "what is your relationship with Jesus?"

So you remember when you wanted to get that a pack of Upper Deck cards from Target because the Iverson rookie card might be in there? The problem was, you’re at home, and Target is out there, and the only means of getting there was the car you aren’t old enough to drive yourself in yet. Plus, you know, you need money to buy the cards. The real decision to make, though, is who to ask: your mom or your dad? You’re pretty sure both would say yes, but your dad is downstairs trying to figure out how to turn on this fancy computer (it’s literally the switch that says POWER dad!) and your mom is outside pretending like pulling weeds is actually accomplishing something. Would it be disrespectful to ask one but not the other? Would it be annoying and redundant to ask both? What if you ask your dad and he says no… those Iverson cards aren’t going to get to your hands by themselves. In the end, you probably just pick one of them, whoever is a closer walk. Aren’t they kind of the same person anyway, what with being married and all? As you can imagine, this is how I see my relationship with Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit and any other deity I’m missing.

In the 7^th Grade lunchroom I got in trouble for calling Mrs. Stefani a fag (her daughter overheard me) and my parents were threatening to make me sit out of the playoff game at Joe Dumars Fieldhouse. That night I told God that if he helped me play in that game, I’d say Thank You’s every night for the rest of my life. Welp, I got to play, missed a half-court shot at the buzzer that would have won it, cried all night, then said my Thank You’s before I went to sleep. And literally every night since I thank God for a bunch of stuff from that day. Kobe is the first thing every time. Actually being alive is always on there (seriously, living is so cool.) And whatever else comes up makes the list. I rarely ask for anything – Bruce Almighty kind of made me think too many people ask for stuff. I’m never sure whether I should thank God or Jesus, so I just thank God and assume he passes the message on to Jesus and anyone else who may be interested.

So I guess my relationship with Jesus ends there. I’ll get to the how catholic school burned me out soon. So walk with me, as long as you don’t make skid marks on the floor, because that’s a demerit, and five of those equals no recess.

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And now Coach T would like to hear from you. So again,

1. What is your purpose in life? Why are you here?

2. What is your relationship with Jesus?