MEMPHIS — In the back room of a theater on Beale Street, John Renken, 42, a pastor, recently led a group of young men in prayer.
“Father, we thank you for tonight,” he said. “We pray that we will be a representation of you.”
An hour later, a member of his flock who had bowed his head was now unleashing a torrent of blows on an opponent, and Mr. Renken was offering guidance that was not exactly prayerful.
“Hard punches!” he shouted from the sidelines of a martial arts event called
Cage Assault. “Finish the fight! To the head! To the head!”
[Let's stop here for a moment. Remember, this is a pastor
coaching... mentoring... a young man. Really look at the language he's using:
Finish the fight - hit harder... To the head - knock him senseless, even
unconscious.
Can we turn to Matthew, chapter 5 for a moment? What is Jesus
teaching in that gathering?
5: "Blessed are the gentle (meek
in KJV), for they shall inherit the earth.
9: "Blessed are the
peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Jesus is clearly advocating gentleness as a matter of course
and peaceful action as the method of operation. More importantly, peacemakers
"shall be called sons of God". How is it that when you - for sport - enter a
ring and beat an opponent senseless, this is considered healthy Christian
behaviour? Can you honestly call yourself a "son of God"? Think about this
carefully.]
The young man was a member of a fight team at Xtreme Ministries, a small church near Nashville that doubles as a mixed martial arts academy. Mr. Renken, who founded the church and academy, doubles as the team’s coach. The school’s motto is “Where Feet, Fist and Faith Collide.”
Mr. Renken’s ministry is one of a small but growing number of
evangelical churches that have embraced mixed martial arts — a sport with a
reputation for violence and blood that combines kickboxing, wrestling and other
fighting styles — to reach and convert young men, whose church attendance has
been persistently low. Mixed martial arts events have drawn millions of
television viewers, and one was the top pay-per-view event in 2009.
[So the popularity of the sport in the world means we should
bring it into the Church as a "recruitment" tool. We preach Christ crucified
only to turn around and encourage "healthy" competition in the Octagon which
basically refutes scriptural mandates and encourages brutality. We teach that
channeled violent behaviour - in a "proper" setting - is good.
It begs the question: If Yoga is something Christians should
not practice, can it be said that martial arts, too, should be avoided for many
of the same reasons? They both draw from the same spiritual
foundations, born of Eastern mysticism. Consider this carefully; it is
that important.
Where are we going to draw the line? Jesus gave us that line,
Paul reiterated and expounded on it, and we are to abide by it, regardless of
cultural/social norms of the world, not move it because we have become
uncomfortable in how the world reacts to our beliefs and practices.]
Recruitment efforts at the churches, which are predominantly
white, involve fight night television viewing parties and lecture series that
use ultimate fighting to explain how Christ fought for what he believed in.
Other ministers go further, hosting or participating in live events.
[So we use violent sports as examples - even metaphors - to
demonstrate Christ's ideology and philosophy?]
The goal, these pastors say, is to inject some machismo into
their ministries — and into the image of Jesus — in the hope of making
Christianity more appealing. “Compassion and love — we agree with all that
stuff, too,” said Brandon Beals, 37, the lead pastor at Canyon Creek Church
outside of Seattle. “But what led me to find Christ was that Jesus was a
fighter.”
[When I was growing up, I was taught that a real man
walks away from conflict unless there is simply no choice. Even
then, violence was never a healthy "means to an end"; it was a "last resort"
solution. Yes, Jesus was a fighter, but not through brute force.
What do we read in scripture?
Heb. 4:12: For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
If we employ the word of God in proper context, without leaving
out the uncomfortable bits, His word, through the Holy Spirit, will convict and
strike at the heart of the hearer of the word (because ...faith comes by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Rom. 10:17) - not by feat of
fists).
Jesus never taught that willfully raising arms in
a personal struggle was justifiable under any circumstances. He even excoriated
Peter in the Garden when Peter cut off the ear of one of the servants of the
Priests there to arrest Jesus, saying "...put up again thy sword into his place:
for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." (Matt.
26:52) Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 6 that it is better to suffer the
injury (in matters of Law and court, but still applicable here).]
The outreach is part of a larger and more longstanding effort
on the part of some ministers who fear that their churches have become too
feminized, promoting kindness and compassion at the expense of strength and
responsibility.
[If a church has become "feminized", it is better to look at
the leadership, the elders or overseers, as the cause because they have
functionally ceased to teach the whole gospel message in scripture
- at least that has been my experience in attending these "feminized" churches.
But advocating violent sports activities is not the solution because it doesn't
teach deeper truths about discipline and turning the other cheek, walking away
from a fight - which takes more courage than staying and fighting.]
“The man should be the overall leader of the household,” said
Ryan Dobson, 39, a pastor and fan of mixed martial arts who is the son of James C. Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, a prominent evangelical group. “We’ve
raised a generation of little boys.”
[Yes, men are over the household. But this is worse than weak
justification for what they're doing. Notice, too, that this is James Dobson's
son saying this. Focus On The Family, as far as I know, would never validate
this kind of activity, would they? Or have they changed so much over the years
that pugilism has become acceptable behaviour?
Again, if we have raised "little boys", fat babies (still
taking the "milk" of scripture and unable to digest the "meat" of scripture), it
is because we haven't been teaching them the whole gospel message
of scripture. Real mean are taught to be responsible and accountable for their
actions, that there are consequences for doing wrong, doing bad things. Real men
accept the justice meted out to them when caught, tried and convicted of an
offense. They don't try to explain, excuse or justify wrongful behaviour and
actions; they accept their punishment.]
These pastors say the marriage of faith and fighting is
intended to promote Christian values, quoting verses like “fight the good fight
of faith” from Timothy 6:12. Several put the number of churches taking up mixed
martial arts at roughly 700 of an estimated 115,000 white evangelical churches
in America. The sport is seen as a legitimate outreach tool by the youth
ministry affiliate of the National Association of Evangelicals, which represents
more than 45,000 churches.
[Well, can we twist the true meaning of scripture any more out
of whack than that? The "good fight of faith" is not by force of arms, combat,
sport or other violence. All this to say and justify Ultimate Fighting as a
"legitimate outreach tool" for the purposes of attracting young men, woefully
absent from church.
I have an idea. Let's preach the truth, that absent Christ we
are bound on a road to eternal damnation and separation from God, our loved
ones, everything and everyone forever. Let's speak of the mercy and forgiveness
of God in Christ Jesus for anyone who comes to Christ and asks Him to come into
their life, their heart shall be rescued from this Ultimate Justice.
Let's preach that by Jesus' example and teaching the
uncompromised Gospel message we will lead more people to salvation than through
these trendy and foolish flesh pursuits.
Let's conduct altar calls, which I rarely ever see anymore, and
actually invite people to come forward right now - today because
"...behold, now [is] the accepted time; behold, now [is] the day of salvation." (2 Cor. 6:2)) instead of offering
them a video or free New Testament to take home and think about it (and whom we
will never see again).]
“You have a lot of troubled young men who grew up without
fathers, and they’re wandering and they’re hopeless and they’re lousy dads
themselves and they’re just lost,” said Paul Robie, 54, a pastor at South
Mountain Community Church in Draper, Utah.
[And these young men are already prone to violence as a
consequence, unable to understand all that pent up anger and resentment for
getting dealt a tough hand in life. Yeah, let's unleash them in the Octagon so
they can take all that rage and channel it into beating the daylights out of
another young man with the same issues.]
Fighting as a metaphor has resonated with some young
men.
[But they're taking this "metaphor" and dispensing with the
analogous nature of what a metaphor is, how it is applied as an example given,
and now actually fighting in a ring.]
“I’m fighting to provide a better quality of life for my family
and provide them with things that I didn’t have growing up,” said Mike Thompson,
32, a former gang member and student of Mr. Renken’s who until recently had
struggled with unemployment and who fights under the nickname the Fury. “Once I
accepted Christ in my life,” Mr. Thompson said, “I realized that a person can
fight for good.”
[Okay, here it is in a nutshell. This young man has made the
case for why it is not a good idea. First, fighting doesn't
provide a better quality of life for him or his family. There is an implied
undercurrent that he is getting paid, which is made in saying that he can
provide his family with things he didn't have growing up. And once he accepted
Jesus, he realized a person can literally engage in violent behaviour for good?
What kind of mentoring is happening in these places? that taking up arms in a
bloody sport is considered godly behaviour and that in some fashion they are
taught that Jesus would be okay with this???]
Nondenominational evangelical churches have a long history of using popular culture — rock music, skateboarding and even yoga — to reach new followers. Yet even among more experimental sects, mixed martial arts has critics.
“What you attract people to Christ with is also what you need to get people to stay,” said Eugene Cho, 39, a pastor at Quest Church, an evangelical congregation in Seattle. “I don’t live for the Jesus who eats red meat, drinks beer and beats on other men.”
Robert Brady, 49, the executive vice president of a
conservative evangelical group, the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, agreed,
saying that the mixed martial arts motif of evangelism “so easily takes away
from the real focus of the church, which is the Gospel.” Many black churches
have chosen not to participate.
[Perhaps because so many young black men are already violent
and don't need to be encouraged to fight even more than they already
do?]
Almost a decade ago, mixed martial arts was seen as a blood sport without rules or regulation. It was banned in nearly every state and denounced by politicians like Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona.
Over the past five years, however, because of shrewd marketing
by the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the
sport’s premier brand, mixed martial arts has become mainstream. Today the sport
is legal and regulated in 42 states.
[Is. 5:20: Woe unto them that call evil good, and good
evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness...]
Its proponents point to a study by researchers at the Johns
Hopkins University School of Medicine showing that mixed martial arts
participants suffer a lower rate of knockouts than boxers.
[Well, yes... if you have ever watched even one bout, they
spend most of the time in a "dominant/submission" "hug" on the mat and then just
wail on each other's heads until one passes out or "taps" out.]
Over the past year and a half, a subculture has evolved, with
Christian mixed martial arts clothing brands like Jesus Didn’t Tap (in the sport, “tap” means to give up) and
Christian social networking Web sites like Anointedfighter.com.
[And there it is, commercialization, products. Jesus didn't tap
because He never got in a physical altercation. The idea suggested by the
"slogan" is repulsive, to say the least: Don't back down. Don't surrender. Fight
until you win. Head shots, kidney shots, whatever gets it done. Yeah, that's the
kind of mentoring our young men need.]
Roughly 100 young men, many sporting shaved heads and tattoos,
attend fight parties at Canyon Creek near Seattle, watching bouts on the
church’s four big-screen televisions. Vendors hustle hot dogs and “Predestined
to Fight” T-shirts. About half are not church members but heard about the
parties through friends, said Mr. Beals, who is known as the Fight Pastor.
[Are you disgusted yet?]
Men ages 18 to 34 are absent from churches, some pastors said,
because churches have become more amenable to women and children. “We grew up in
a church that had pastel pews,” said Tom Skiles, 37, the pastor of Spirit of St.
Louis Church in Arnold, Mo. “The men fell asleep.”
[So you haven't figured out that the leadership in your church
is out of touch with the WHOLE GOSPEL MESSAGE? Maybe your pastor
is a terrible teacher? A rotten public speaker? Not supposed to be working in
that field? (a whole different subject)]
In focusing on the toughness of Christ, evangelical leaders are
harking back to a similar movement in the early 1900s, historians say, when
women began entering the work force. Proponents of this so-called muscular
Christianity advocated weight lifting as a way for Christians to express their
masculinity.
[Rationalizing this sport by pointing to another ridiculous
endeavour in the past, yeah, that works. But at least the weight lifting didn't
also involve fisticuffs.]
“This whole generation is raised on the idea that they’re in a
culture war for the heart and soul of America,” said Stephen Prothero, a
professor of religion at Boston University.
[Um... I thought this was about people, not nations, this whole
Christianity thing, the relationship, the salvation of the soul of the person,
not the nation. Maybe it's just me. While the Great Commission does say,
"...make disciples... of all nations...", it begins with individuals. This world
is destined to pass away; why would I want to "save" it? Rather, we should be
concerned with the soul of the person, not the nation. Granted, if enough people
turn to God in Christ, the nation will "turn" back to Christ.]
Paul Burress, 35, a chaplain and fight coach at Victory
Baptist Church in Rochester, said mixed martial arts had given his students a
chance to work on body, soul and spirit. “Win or lose, we represent Jesus,” he
said. “And we win most of the time.”
[Wow, can you feel the pride there? Again, though, this guy is
mentoring young men into a field that glorifies violence. Where is the peace of
Christ? I don't care how you want to spin this, the reality speaks clear and
plain, especially when you witness a match. This sport is brutal, often
merciless, always draws blood, and brings no glory to God.]
But on that cold night in Memphis, Mr. Renken, the pastor from
Xtreme Ministries,
watched as two of his three fighters were beaten, one emerging with a broken
ankle.
[How does this teach the love of Christ? How does this build
good moral and ethical character? Please, explain this to me.]
Another, Jesse Johnson, 20, a potential convert, was subdued in
a chokehold and decided not to return home with the other church members after
his bout. He stayed in Memphis, drinking and carousing with friends along Beale
Street, this city’s raucous, neon-lighted strip of bars.
[So much for the "recruitment". It is interesting the article
ends on this sad note; both beaten and without Christ, the young man decides to
drown his pain and defeat on Beale Street with booze and who knows what other
substances.]