Before you role your eyes and go somewhere else, hear me out.
For those not familiar with MMA fighting (MMA = Mixed Martial Arts), it is the latest rage in pop culture athletic endeavors. It is best represented by the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Champion), run by a seemingly brilliant entrepreneur named Dana White (Read here for the article done on White by Entrepreneur.com) . There are also other “leagues,” that compete for viewers with UFC, such as the IFL, WEC, Pride, and KOTC (International Fight League, World Extreme Cagefighting, and King of the Cage respectively). MMA fighting has a well deserved reputation. Though its adherents claim that it is safer than boxing due to the various options an MMA fighter has (grappling, , kicking, tapping out, etc.) that a boxer does not, they will also candidly note that the sport is considerably bloodier than boxing. The logic of the sport is that you combine several different martial arts (most prominent seem to be Gracie Jiu Jitsu and Thai kickboxing) in a format similar to American boxing, which is now considered by the proprietors of this new sport as “old school.”
Like boxing, there are unpleasant aspects to the sport for the Christian to avoid. Also, like boxing, there are aspects that should be observed by the Christian as a unique demonstration of the Christian life. Specifically, I like MMA fighting because it draws to the foreground the reality of intense competition. Like life, a loss may result in more than just a consolation prize. This reality seemed to disappear with the advent of the “it doesn’t matter if you win or lose but how you play the game” ethic and extends to this day, where playing cards is considered a sport (at least enough of a sport to appear on ESPN). Truth be told, it DOES matter if you win or lose. The followers of the above stated ethic are well intended I am sure. They are not interested in their kids becoming cheaters in a “winning only matters” world. I get it. However, that ethic says much more than that. It actually says that it “doesn’t matter” who wins. There is nothing biblical about this idea. Biblical writers speak to this matter on more than one occasion.
In a discussion concerning Paul’s passion to win all types of people to Christ, he comments as follows.
1 Cor. 9:24-27 (ESV)
Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. [25] Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. [26] So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. [27] But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
I am not trying to suggest here that the apostle would be ringside in Vegas for the Liddell/Jackson fight. I am simply saying that the pursuit of the Christian life is a pursuit that one runs and fights to win. Paul is not suggesting winning at all costs, such as breaking the rules. However, he is saying that to run or fight without the goal of winning seems to be equally as fruitless as winning in an ill-gotten manner.
The author of the book of Hebrews seems to assume a similar line of thought.
Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, [2] looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Even more to my point is the idea of intentionally shedding every “weight and sin” that would hinder us from running with endurance and running the “race set before us.” This writer intends his readers to intentionally run with endurance and finish their race as winners. His example is clear enough. Christ endures the wrath of God and rejection of those to whom he came for “the joy set before Him.” Christ “despises” (treats as trite and trivial) the shame of the cross for the reward of his efforts, namely his own glory and the glory of the Father in the redemption of sinners. This fight was a blood-earnest, death-grappling, sin-killing serious one and is the example used by the author for his readers (including us) to follow.
It does matter how you play the game. However, it also matters who wins! It matters if one loses! While one can learn this in any sport, the realistic, body-damaging, blood-letting, coma-likely sport of MMA fighting brings home the genuine nature of winning and losing perhaps in a way closer to the biblical writers’ view than anything else. It serves as a good corrective for the sterile ethic of “it doesn’t matter.”
Posted in Pop Culture, Sports
