Greg Glassman’s recent comments concerning the current state of the world are ignorant and deplorable, at best. We do not condone them, nor will we stand by them. If you have no idea where this is coming from, I’d tell you not to waste your time looking into it. As for me, I will not give that man another letter in this blog.
In my devotional time this morning, I was reading 1 Corinthians 12-13. After detailing the importance of each part of the body, Paul says in verse 26 that ‘If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.’
Right now, today, the Black community is hurting.
Racism is real. It is real, it is wrong, and the time for taking action and effecting change is now, so please bear with me.
I initially wanted to start this blog a bit more strongly, but cooler heads prevailed and I realized its important to separate one man from his actions.
For those unfamiliar with the relationship between a CrossFit-gym and CrossFit HQ, here’s a quick explanation: it is not a franchise. It is an affiliation. Basically, we pay $3,000 to them each year to say we ‘do CrossFit.’ That’s it. CrossFit is a branded exercise methodology. They control no aspect of our business, which is great. It’s allowed me to run things as I see fit from day one. I never expected, nor asked , for anything from the day we opened. As an entrepreneur, this worked great for me! But being ‘affiliated’ means exactly that – what is said at the top can become representative of the whole, even though we owners and coaches know it’s not.
In the Bible, forgiveness is repeated 146 times. I believe forgiveness is a crucial piece of the healing process needed for real change to take place. I also believe that forgiveness does not necessitate a continued relationship with the offender.
Over the years, I’ve asked myself the question ‘what would make me drop my CrossFit affiliation?’ And the answer boiled down to anything done or said that was not in alignment with our values. That time has come. What was said over the weekend was wholly antithetical to our values and we will no longer be affiliated with CrossFit.
There is no denying that our gym is Christian owned and operated. Our name, our logo, our values – they are all deeply rooted in the Bible. And so, nine years ago, when Mandy and I were searching for the name for our gym, we thought it fitting that we would be a ‘Cross’-fit gym. The ‘For Glory’ piece literally came to me in the middle of the night, when I scribbled on a notepad beside the bed and had to ask for her help in deciphering my horrendous handwriting the next morning before work.
Just before COVID forced our physical location to close, the CFG team were busy working on refining our mission and rolling out new values. As we navigated that crisis, that work took a back seat. But one thing born out of all of this was the realization that the service that defines us, Coaching, never stops. It doesn’t take a physical location; plenty of folks are still improving their health and fitness with us without ever stepping foot inside the gym.
For 9 years, CrossFit has been a thing we’ve done, but it’s not who we are. We are a group of Coaches leading a community that wants to live their best lives.
In December 2018, as I was starting another company, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to call it. I bought a few domain names, though we ended up calling that company ‘Two-Brain Coaching.’ It’s thriving today. But the other domain has sat dormant, unused, until today.
So effective immediately, we will be known as ‘Coaching For Glory.’
Of course, you can still use our adopted shorthand of CFG, but it now explicitly stands for not just for what we do but who we are.
I am proud to lead the CFG community and times like these continue to give me hope for our future.
In Matthew 22, Jesus laid out quite plainly what we should be doing:
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
To the Black community, I speak for all of CFG when I say: we see you, we stand with you, we love you, and we will fight alongside you.
Please bear with us as web addresses and communication avenues change over.
If you have any questions, or would like to talk, please respond!