Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle... (Psalm 144:1; ESV)I recently came across a trailer for a documentary about professing Christians that have been integrating their faith with their love of mixed martial arts (or MMA). As a fan of MMA myself, I've been wrestling (figuratively) with the biblical understanding of fighting as it relates to this sport. So, naturally, I was curious about this documentary.
Supposedly, the film "follows several pastors and fighters in a quest to reconcile their faith with a sport that some consider violent and barbaric." Now, these aren't Christians that are just peripherally interested in MMA. These are Christians that are intentionally making MMA their ministry.
Rather than make sweeping judgments about a film I have yet to see, I will refrain from writing a review. But I do think it is appropriate to reflect on things that matter regardless of the content of the film. For now, I will ask one question: What should be the focus of the church?
So, I googled "Fight Church" to see what would happen. Sure enough, I found a chaplaincy, called Fight Church, that is dedicated to ministering to fighters. One might take issue with a chaplaincy being called a church, but that is besides the point. What is more interesting is the link I found on that website: Game Church!
This got me thinking, why not start a Cat Church? Imagine a safe-haven for cat-lovers everywhere! A place we can worship Jesus and bless our cats with cat-nip!
Forgive my sarcasm, but I hope you get my point. It seems to me that it is easy for us to substitute the word "church" with "club," take out the little Jesus sprinkles, and what we are left with is an interest group. But the church is not a club!
The focus of the Church is Christ. When the church's identity is something other than Christ, we behead the church.
It is one thing to enjoy MMA, games and even cats, but it is another to enjoy them as ultimate things. Let us be wary of worldly joys and pleasures. Let us not raise those things too high. Let not anything distract or detract from Christ.
The church belongs to him. Let the church live out that truth.
