Recently Stephen Biebelhausen made headlines for running a 4:17 mile…while pushing his baby daughter in a stroller! And several media outlets reported that “Stephen and his daughter broke the World Record.”

However, it’s preposterous to think that his daughter had any contribution to this achievement except for looking cute and sitting in the stroller. The credit belongs to Dad on this one!

But, as his daughter matures, she will have the opportunity to tell people about her awesome Dad and how he was able to propel her to a victory that she did nothing to earn via her own merits. Sounds a lot like the Gospel!  (And if you want to hear a great sermon from the guy who deserves the credit for this metaphor, Pastor Ben Blakey discusses this HERE).

But imagine that one day, his daughter starts studying her Dad’s training methods. Maybe she gains insight into the various energy systems that he consistently manipulated to maximize his aerobic system, his power-to-weight ratio, and mitochondrial efficiency. Perhaps she learns the intricacies of substrate utilization and is able to actually explain what “lactic acid” does and why it’s not the reason you’re sore today.

And as she gains knowledge, she starts to implicitly accept credit for her Dad’s Stroller Record. And she takes great pride in belittling other babies who lack an in-depth understanding of her Dad’s Methods.

The fact remains that she DID NOTHING TO EARN THIS VICTORY. And sure, her Dad is awesome. And yes, she should absolutely want to learn the intricacies of her Dad’s methods to the best of her ability.

But so often, Christians start to over-academicize theology and lose the humble wonder of the Gospel. Humility is exchanged for elitism. Some pastors love theology more than the flock. And then they may even blame the sheep when they scatter.

So if any of you are getting a little conceited with your profound understanding of sesquipedalian spiritual semantics, here’s a present active imperative for you: put your pride in the trash can and get back in the stroller😊