A CONTROVERSIAL POST

controversial post

image courtesy Google photos

It was pretend… All I had to do was pay a hundred bucks as I recall to play the pretend game. I remember thinking it was one of the best deals I could imagine at the time. Talk about stress relief! That’s what it was for me, but that pretend game brought others just the opposite emotion. They were facing their fears. They didn’t look forward to the pretend game, not one bit.

I was a tad late to the event and forgot my grappling gloves. As I was trying to get my buddy’s attention to borrow his, I brought too much attention to myself, which worked out for everybody… The other fifteen or so people who included a couple of girls or ladies were relieved when the Red Man started  yelling at me. I’d be the first to play the pretend game…

“You think you’re bad?” The bright and fully padded Red Man with the metal cage over his face yelled. “Bad enough,” I answered, not able to control my smile and relishing the pretend game. The Red Man stepped toward me, “I think maybe I oughta’ kick your _ SS!” He yelled.

The design of the Red Man was to test a person’s skills in a mock real life setting. I’ve been in enough real life scenarios like that, it wasn’t real for me. I knew I wasn’t going to get my nose broken (again), but I also know from experience that this is a dangerous life and the unexpected sometimes happens in life. I was going to get to hit someone who was within my comfortable space, even if he was in pads and a cage, as hard as I could and no one was going to get hurt.

This is a controversial subject for Christians and I’m not advocating violence. I do however believe it is our job to take care of and defend our families. I think turning the other cheek as described in Matthew is about ignoring an insult. In fact, the entire Beatitudes is about a matters of the heart, not the physical following of rules.

We also know what Paul wrote about a man who doesn’t take care of his family in 1 Timothy. I’ve heard and read much debate about the swords referred to in Luke 22. The actual translation is “knife” if my memory serves me, but the point people argue in defense of not being able to protect ourselves is varied. Some say that it’s the “sword of the spirit.”

What seems obvious to me is that Jesus Christ who has all authority on earth and in heaven to defend Himself hung around with His disciples who were armed. He never rebuked them for being ready to defend themselves or family. He rebuked Peter when it was His time to be handed up. The fact that His disciples were armed speaks volumes.

Having a heart for God and grasping the rules that start from within us in Him doesn’t mean we are to stand by and watch young people or our families be abused or killed. When Christ appointed John to watch over His earthly mother, the implication was basic protection as well.

I know this will bring different opinions, it’s a controversial post, but this is mine. I’d appreciate and respect yours as well; we all might be enlightened in the process, but it doesn’t do any good to ignore a divisive subject.

It was all smiles and jokes that day while the Red Man played his game of pretend until he said something like, “I got McKenzie out in the car! Now I want the money!”  The owner still tells stories of how my smile melted from the pretend game into the reality of someone harming my daughter or loved one… Hearing her name changed the game for me…

A few more seconds and I might have been able to crush that metal cage with my elbow strikes while the Red Man’s helmet was pinned to the ground. They didn’t give me anymore turns after that… I’m not very good at pretend…

What would you do if someone was harming your loved one?