Fighting for Jesus
I am so proud of Bobby Hernandez. He is allowing the brilliant light of Jesus Christ to shine brightly through him while he competes in Mixed Martial Arts. Last Saturday, night several of us went to see him compete in his first amateur competition. The pic above shows me and Adri (his girlfriend) praying for him before the match. Notice the very cool shirt!
The crowd is a dark one. Much in need of a light. Thank God for people like Bobby, who enter in and are not ashamed of the Gospel. His shorts said, “Jesus didn’t tap out”. He knelt to pray before the match. A couple thousand people were there watching. Bobby fell short in the match, but progressed the message of hope! No doubt.
Go Bobby!
+robin
Posted on August 24, 2009, in Daily Word and tagged bobby hernandez, martial arts, mma, new braunfels civic center, ufc. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
Robin Steele 
I’m a huge MMA fan, but would Jesus approve of any type of fighting?
Great question, D. I am sure there are things in MMA that Jesus does not approve of. Having said that, there are things in a lot of churches that Jesus does not approve of.
People take the scripture in the sermon on the mount about “turning the other cheek” and paint a broad, general stroke against fighting of any type. Some go so far as saying that this means true Christians can not protect themselves with self-defense or participate in sporting activities such as karate, boxing, and MMA.
I personally don’t think that is what the context of the passage means. When someone slaps you in the cheek, that is an insult, not physical harm. If they want to harm you physically, they will not slap you, they go much farther. Jesus says, “turn the other cheek”. In other words, do not let an insult bother you. Keep walking. Jesus teaches against pride. Pride makes you fight back because of your ego. Jesus says that if we are to follow Him, we are to have no ego. Therefore, a slap on the cheek or a curse against us should be no big deal. We should simply turn the other cheek and allow them to ‘hate on us’ all they want. It shouldn’t affect us because we get our value from Christ and not the popularity of our peers.
MMA has a lot of ego and pride. That is why I am so proud of Bobby. He goes in with a great attitude. He competes in the sport. He appreciates the challenge, and continues with dignity. Before and after matches he is available to the other competitors. He is mentoring younger guys also. I applaud anyone that is going into this type of environment and shining the light of Jesus.
The Apostle Paul said, “When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some.”
Having said all that….I don’t know a lot about the sport of MMA. Like I said in the opening paragraph, I am sure there are things in the sport that are rough and I am not trying to validate those things. I am speaking from the perspective that I saw that night.
that’s my take.