UFC, Lessons for the Christian

Our next lesson to learn is fighting for the long haul. A man who trains for the 200 meter sprint will be in big trouble when he gets to the track and finds out that the race is actually a marathon.
In the same way a fighter needs to train for those ‘last’ minutes of the fight in mind. If he thinks that he is going to knock the other guy out in the first round so he doesn’t need to have stamina and endurance he very well could be in for a huge disappointment once the third, fourth and even fifth round comes around.

I have watched fights where the bigger man, and even stronger man lost the fight because he didn’t train for the long haul. Once he lost his wind, his fuel tanks hit empty, and all of his earlier strength suddenly disappeared. Now his earlier size advantage becomes a disadvantage. All of that extra mass is now only added weight he has to try to maneuver around the octagon, while running on fumes. In the end he gets knocked out or submitted because of lack of concentration, strength and the will to go on.

In the Christian’s fight he too needs to have long term goals in mind. Some Christians have withdrawn from the fight for bringing Christianity into the public realm because they have been taught that Jesus is coming back real soon. They think that the Lord is coming again in 2, 3, maybe 10 years so they set their minds on this short term goal. In essence they are making the same mistake as the runner who trains for the 200 meter when in reality the race is the marathon.

Jesus said that no one knows the time of His exact return. The Bible teaches that the nations will be brought to the Lord, that all of Christ’s enemies [except death] will be made His foot stool prior to His second coming [teaching us that it will be Christ working through His church to accomplish this goal]. At His second coming Jesus will call all men, and all will hear His voice and rise from the grave [general resurrection], putting an end to the last enemy, death.

If Christian’s are thinking that Jesus is coming soon and the end of history [as we know it now] is coming to an end in the next few years, then they will not be training for those last important rounds. It could be that Jesus doesn’t return for 80,000 years and that the church needs to begin to train and fight with these long term goals in mind.

UFC Lessons for the Christian

The first lesson the Christian can learn from the octagon is that you need to be prepared to fight. Let me explain.

The men who enter the octagon all train for battle [some better then others].

If you pulled a person out of the watching crowd, who did not have this mind-set and who did not train for hand to hand combat, and placed them within the octagon to fight a seasoned fighter...the results would be disasterous.

But if you pulled a spectator out of the crowd who fought his whole life on the streets you just might have a good battle on your hands.

The point isn't whether you train for the octagon or not...its whether you are training for battle [octagon or the street].

Many Christians wake up each day and go to bed each night without ever realizing that they 'have' been involved in a battle.

Ultimate Fighting Championships

As Christians we should always remember that we are involved in a battle each day.
As the fighters of the UFC have to enter the octagon and fight their opponent so too we have to fight Satan, the world and the flesh each day.
If you lose in the octagon you can take quite the beating, even have bones in your body broken.
In the battle of salvation you can lose your soul.

Over the next few days I would like to give some examples that we [as Christians] can learn from the octagon.

Temper Tantrum

Watching a child throw a fit can almost be funny. Seeing their lower lip sticking way, way out, having them scrunching their shoulders up as they scowl, seeing them stamp their feet, cry and whine, and even hold their breath until they get what they want.

Do notice that I said "almost".

Temper tantrums in children need to dealt with.

They need to be dealt with quickly because temper tantrums are a childs way of trying to use manipulation to get their own way.

If this sinful behavior is not dealt with then it will be practiced all the way through a persons life.

Adults can be much more subtle about their temper tantrums.

Some wives have an amazing talent of turning down the temperature in the house without ever touching the thermostat. If they don't get what they want then their mood turns very ugly until hubby gets the message.

Some people have made temper tantrums their life work. When someone doesn't agree with their agenda they will give them the "cold shoulder", stop talking to them, cut off fellowship...and another 20 different ways of saying "you've stepped out of line, better wake up if you want me to start breathing again".

This behavior is very sinful because it flows from the desire to exalt "self".

What Kind Of Car?

What kind of car would you be compared to on a used car lot?

Some Christians are like the car that someone spent a lot of time making sure it appeared good, on the surface, but once you drive it for a while, its true lemon-hood is revealed.