No Stalling-Take the Center of the Mat
I took my boys (and a friend) and my dad to a wrestling match recently between the University of Michigan and the Ohio State University.
The boys in Maize and Blue lost but it was a great time together.
Wrestling is a grueling sport with a powerful ability to teach life lessons.
As we watched these men in the prime of their strength battle, I was reminded of one simple but profound lesson:
You cannot stall if you intend to compete.
The referee issues a warning for stalling if one of the wrestlers is not actively working to gain points or better his position.
A wrestler will be penalized for stalling if he displays passive wrestling, a lack of effort, or continually slows down the match.
My father often told me that men would fall into sins of either passion or passivity.
Our culture seems to be aware of the dangers of passion. We should continue to celebrate the biblical call to self-control!
Are we calling young men away from passivity as well?
It appears that some of our efforts to avoid aggressive or indulgent men have only produced stalling.
We must hate porn, condemn abuse, and fight addictions with a righteous fury.
We must also tell men to take the center of the mat.
We need to call them to advance, to attack, to initiate!
This is a biblical call. God gave Adam the garden to work and take care of it (cf. Genesis 2).
The wisdom of Scripture commends a pro-active approach to life.
Proverbs 21:5 The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.
Not only that– The wisdom of Scripture commends seizing the day, not waiting for the perfect moment.
Live while you have life!
Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom in the grave, where you are going.
Just like wrestling, life will be hard.
There will be opponents and you will get tired! The grueling work of marriage, raising kids… of even work will require you to be active, even aggressive, to accomplish what God calls you to accomplish.
Ephesians 5:15-16 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
This general theme applies to all work while also being clearly applied to spiritual training and discipline.
1 Timothy 4:7–10 Train yourself to be godly. 8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 9 This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. 10 That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.
God has not called men to stall. He has not called us to simply avoid being sinfully aggressive.
Rise and grind and give God the glory! Paul didn’t want to be called for stalling and neither should you!
1 Corinthians 9:24–27 24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.