It is now 10 days since the so-called "fight of the century" between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, and while many questions remain after the fight,
in particular concerning the condition of Pacquiao's shoulder on fight night, the most important
question has not been asked; namely, what are the
spiritual lessons we can learn from this mega-rich fight?
1. God is not particularly concerned with the outcome of a sporting event.
We commonly hear athletes thank
God after a victory, saying that without Him they could
not have won, and certainly, it's good for them to be
humble and give glory to the Lord.
There are also times when it appears that the Lord may
have intervened in a game for the sake of a testimony,
as in the case of born-again David Tyree's "miraculous"
catch when his New York Giants defeated the New
England Patriots in the Super Bowl in 2008.
But it's ludicrous to think that the Lord puts the same
priorities on sporting events as we do, as if it really
matters which team or person wins. And how many
times do you see a spectacular play made by one player
on a team, who then points upward to the Lord to say,
"It's all You, Lord!", only to have the next play go
against his team, with the opposing player pointing to
the Lord?
Which side is God on? Perhaps neither?
Perhaps He doesn't share our idolatrous obsession with
sports, which is manifest in our divided hearts and in
the millions of dollars spent on bets? Perhaps He's
more concerned with the lost being saved and with the
sick being healed? Perhaps He's more concerned with
casualties in Syria and with the cry of a martyr's family
in Egypt than with the outcome of a boxing match?
2. Good generally doesn't triumph over evil in the boxing ring.
As much as Pacquiao was painted as the
good guy in this fight (from what I've heard from friends
in the Philippines who know him personally, he's a
genuine believer) and Mayweather was the bad guy (he
does, in fact, have a sordid history, especially when it
comes to domestic violence), the boxing ring is not the
place to expect morality to triumph.
Putting aside the violence and danger of the sport and
whether believers should be involved with it at all, the
fact is that the better fighter normally wins, not the nicer
guy.
This reminds me of the story about a Jewish rabbi and
a Catholic priest watching a boxing match together. The
rabbi noticed one of the boxers crossing himself before
the bout began and asked the priest, "What does that
mean?"
The priest replied, "It doesn't mean anything if he can't
punch."
Years ago, when Evander Holyfield, a professing
Christian, defeated Mike Tyson, who had briefly been a
professing Muslim and who was certainly the "bad guy"
in the fight, I heard believers saying, "Christianity
triumphed over Islam."
What nonsense.
And what happens when the Muslim boxer defeats the
Christian boxer? What does that prove?
Thinking like this is ludicrous.
3. God's greatest goal is the forming of the character of Christ in our lives.
I remember watching Tim Tebow play for the first time
toward the end of his illustrious college career. He had
won everything you could win the previous year and was
coming back for one more year. This was going to be
his last (or one of his last) games.
That day, the scripture verse he highlighted (in anti-
glare black, under his eyes) was one that made
reference to trials and adversity, and I said to myself, "I
think he's going to lose today, but he will grow much
more in character through it."
That's exactly what happened, and while our superficial,
always-win theology doesn't have a place for losing, it
is often through defeat and adversity that we grow the
most.
That is much more important to the Lord than the
outcome of the event, and as I heard the results of the
Mayweather-Pacquiao fight while ministering overseas, I
asked myself the question, "What does the Lord want to
do in Manny's life through this loss? How can he
become more like Jesus through it?"
My hope is that 20 years from now, Manny will be able
to say, "That was one of the important lessons of my
career, and it helped me to grow in the Lord."
4. Overconfidence kills.
Pacquiao is known to be a very gracious and humble
fighter, not trash talking about his opponents and not
given to boastful pronouncements.
Yet before this fight, he stated that he thought he would
knock Mayweather out (a near impossible task), and
then, just a few days before the fight, he told his
devoted Filipino followers that God was with him and he
knew he would win.
When I read that quote, I again wondered to myself,
"Could it be that he has a false sense of confidence and
that he will be humbled by the end of the night? Is
there a spiritual lesson for him here?"
It's one thing when we have a word from heaven; it's
another thing when we're presumptuous.
Perhaps this was Pacquiao's time to learn this painful
lesson, one which many of us have had to learn over the
years?
In no way am I sitting in judgment of Pacquiao or
Mayweather, who stand before God, not you or me, and
in no way am I seeking to demean Manny's testimony,
which has blessed many, or his legendary generosity,
which has helped a multitude of poor Filipinos.
I'm simply making some spiritual application after one of
the biggest sporting events in modern times. Perhaps
there are lessons for each of us too?
Michael Brown is the author of 25 books, including Can
You Be Gay and Christian? and host of the nationally
syndicated talk radio show The Line of Fire . He is also
president of FIRE School of Ministry and director of the
Coalition of Conscience.
question has not been asked; namely, what are the
spiritual lessons we can learn from this mega-rich fight?
1. God is not particularly concerned with the outcome of a sporting event.
We commonly hear athletes thank
God after a victory, saying that without Him they could
not have won, and certainly, it's good for them to be
humble and give glory to the Lord.
There are also times when it appears that the Lord may
have intervened in a game for the sake of a testimony,
as in the case of born-again David Tyree's "miraculous"
catch when his New York Giants defeated the New
England Patriots in the Super Bowl in 2008.
But it's ludicrous to think that the Lord puts the same
priorities on sporting events as we do, as if it really
matters which team or person wins. And how many
times do you see a spectacular play made by one player
on a team, who then points upward to the Lord to say,
"It's all You, Lord!", only to have the next play go
against his team, with the opposing player pointing to
the Lord?
Which side is God on? Perhaps neither?
Perhaps He doesn't share our idolatrous obsession with
sports, which is manifest in our divided hearts and in
the millions of dollars spent on bets? Perhaps He's
more concerned with the lost being saved and with the
sick being healed? Perhaps He's more concerned with
casualties in Syria and with the cry of a martyr's family
in Egypt than with the outcome of a boxing match?
2. Good generally doesn't triumph over evil in the boxing ring.
As much as Pacquiao was painted as the
good guy in this fight (from what I've heard from friends
in the Philippines who know him personally, he's a
genuine believer) and Mayweather was the bad guy (he
does, in fact, have a sordid history, especially when it
comes to domestic violence), the boxing ring is not the
place to expect morality to triumph.
Putting aside the violence and danger of the sport and
whether believers should be involved with it at all, the
fact is that the better fighter normally wins, not the nicer
guy.
This reminds me of the story about a Jewish rabbi and
a Catholic priest watching a boxing match together. The
rabbi noticed one of the boxers crossing himself before
the bout began and asked the priest, "What does that
mean?"
The priest replied, "It doesn't mean anything if he can't
punch."
Years ago, when Evander Holyfield, a professing
Christian, defeated Mike Tyson, who had briefly been a
professing Muslim and who was certainly the "bad guy"
in the fight, I heard believers saying, "Christianity
triumphed over Islam."
What nonsense.
And what happens when the Muslim boxer defeats the
Christian boxer? What does that prove?
Thinking like this is ludicrous.
3. God's greatest goal is the forming of the character of Christ in our lives.
I remember watching Tim Tebow play for the first time
toward the end of his illustrious college career. He had
won everything you could win the previous year and was
coming back for one more year. This was going to be
his last (or one of his last) games.
That day, the scripture verse he highlighted (in anti-
glare black, under his eyes) was one that made
reference to trials and adversity, and I said to myself, "I
think he's going to lose today, but he will grow much
more in character through it."
That's exactly what happened, and while our superficial,
always-win theology doesn't have a place for losing, it
is often through defeat and adversity that we grow the
most.
That is much more important to the Lord than the
outcome of the event, and as I heard the results of the
Mayweather-Pacquiao fight while ministering overseas, I
asked myself the question, "What does the Lord want to
do in Manny's life through this loss? How can he
become more like Jesus through it?"
My hope is that 20 years from now, Manny will be able
to say, "That was one of the important lessons of my
career, and it helped me to grow in the Lord."
4. Overconfidence kills.
Pacquiao is known to be a very gracious and humble
fighter, not trash talking about his opponents and not
given to boastful pronouncements.
Yet before this fight, he stated that he thought he would
knock Mayweather out (a near impossible task), and
then, just a few days before the fight, he told his
devoted Filipino followers that God was with him and he
knew he would win.
When I read that quote, I again wondered to myself,
"Could it be that he has a false sense of confidence and
that he will be humbled by the end of the night? Is
there a spiritual lesson for him here?"
It's one thing when we have a word from heaven; it's
another thing when we're presumptuous.
Perhaps this was Pacquiao's time to learn this painful
lesson, one which many of us have had to learn over the
years?
In no way am I sitting in judgment of Pacquiao or
Mayweather, who stand before God, not you or me, and
in no way am I seeking to demean Manny's testimony,
which has blessed many, or his legendary generosity,
which has helped a multitude of poor Filipinos.
I'm simply making some spiritual application after one of
the biggest sporting events in modern times. Perhaps
there are lessons for each of us too?
Michael Brown is the author of 25 books, including Can
You Be Gay and Christian? and host of the nationally
syndicated talk radio show The Line of Fire . He is also
president of FIRE School of Ministry and director of the
Coalition of Conscience.
Ofcourse God is not a boxer
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