From Strength to Strength
Phil Roberts, in conversation with Ben Woollard
Former winner of England’s Strongest Man Phil Roberts shares how he found true strength in Jesus, and his plans to grow a mission field at the newly-opened Station Gym in Manor.
“The day I nearly lost my leg was the best day of my life,” Phil tells me. Phil was a police officer in Woodseats before he quit to train full time for Strongman competitions. He won the title of England’s Strongest Man in 2017, but that wasn’t enough. Phil was competing in the 2019 finals for Britain’s Strongest Man when it happened. “I was at Sheffield Arena: there were 10,000 people watching me live, and even more watching the broadcast from home.” During one of the final challenges, Phil dropped a 160kg concrete ball - an Atlas Stone - onto his leg, shattering the bones. He was stretchered out of the arena and straight to hospital, where a medical team spent the next two weeks trying to save his leg. While he was there, he had a chance to reflect on his life, his choices, and the Christian faith he thought he’d left behind.
“As I lay there in hospital, I realised I'd spent all my life trying to quench my thirst for Jesus, and I was searching for peace and joy. I had tried everything: drugs, alcohol and the rest: nothing would satisfy me for long. Even my training: at that point, lying in hospital, I realised I'd been building my life on something that can be taken away from me in a snap of a finger. And I thought, ‘This is not the way to live.’”
For years, some friends of Phil’s had been bringing him to a Christian Vision for Men retreat in Lanzarote. In previous years, Phil had refused to let himself open up to the messages being shared, but this time it was different. “I just said, ‘I'm gonna give Jesus a go: I've got nothing left.’ That was the best thing I ever did, and I’ve never looked back. I’ve just tried to strive faster and further for God now.”
Now, Phil and his Christian business partner Tom have opened the Station Gym - the largest independent gym in Sheffield - on the impoverished Manor estate. I visited the gym in January - just before opening day - to find out more.
Q: Tell me more about your vision for the Station Gym; why do you have a heart for Manor?
“I was brought up in Fulwood, but my heart has always been with the working classes and the poor areas in Sheffield. I just love them so much. I love the weird and wonderful people that are there.
“I am a big believer in revival. I want to see God work in the lives of hundreds of people in the Manor, and to see the difference it makes when Jesus is shared in a community like this. I've given Jesus my mustard seed - the Station Gym - told him it's his job to move the mountain.
“So what we're doing with the Station Gym is we're demonstrating that we love the people in Manor, and we want to give them the best facility that they can have. Because we want them to start believing in themselves, starting to build up their self esteem, and I pray that this will start a change in many peoples’ lives.”
Q - There are thousands of believers across Sheffield who are looking for ways to live their faith more authentically at work. How do you make God the centre of your work at the Station Gym?
“For me, putting God at the centre of my work means putting love at the centre of my work. If I’m not enjoying my work, then I can almost guarantee that it’s because I’ve forgotten to put love at the centre of what I’m doing. But once you do this, things will change. So the first thing to do is pray, give God your work, and ask Him to make love the centre of your work. My business partner Tom and I are both Christians, so we pray together, and we say, ‘God, this is not our business. This is Your business.’ You know when Moses says, ‘If you don't go with me, Lord, then I don't want to go at all’? We've come to that conclusion: if God is not in it, we do not want to be there.
“Then secondly, Tom and I pray, ‘Lord, change our hearts, so that we want to share you with everyone.’ That doesn't mean that you have to go up to someone and say, ‘Right, sit down, I need to tell you about Jesus.’ Instead, you show the fruits of the spirit: love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control. Then, when people ask what it is that’s different about you - because they will see that you're different - you can give that glory to God. Even the atmosphere of the Gym feels different as a result, and people have really noticed it. They’ve asked, ‘Why does it feel weird here? Why is it so nice?’ I told them, ‘It’s because we pray for you all.’
Q - Are there any other differences in the way you’re running the gym?
“We’ve made space for a community room within the gym, next to the spin studio, and we’ve invited groups of Christians to hold prayer meetings in this space. God’s drawing a lot of Christians - from all different walks of life and lots of different churches - to pray here. We first met one couple while they were prayer-walking outside the gym last March with Arise! We’re also hoping to hold lots of Alpha courses in that room throughout the week, so that people can invite their friends to a familiar space to learn about Jesus. I recently went on an Alpha course myself with a couple of friends, and was struck by how fantastic it was, and I felt God put it on my heart, saying, ‘You can use this, you can do Alpha in your gym.’
Q - As we prepare to prayer-walk Sheffield with Arise:March, what can the Arise community pray for you, for the Station Gym, and for people in the Manor?
“For us, the project at the Station Gym has been scary from the start. It’s been like a roller coaster. I know I’m secure - God’s keeping me safe - but that doesn’t stop it from being scary from time to time.
“Please pray that people will have the courage to come to the Station, that they will see God’s love and kindness in the Station Gym, and ultimately, that they will be saved. And that all the Christians at the Station would be on fire for Jesus, that they will be strong and courageous in sharing God’s love.”
Find out more about the Station Gym at www.thestationgym.co.uk