The Story of God is like Pro Wrestling

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge pro wrestling fan. What people in the know would call a "mark." Being as such, I look for ways to connect the other things that I love to pro wrestling and vice versa. This morning as I was sitting chapel listening to Dr. Ralph West speak, this connection sprung out at me. He was preaching on the passage in Genesis where Jacob wrestles with the Lord and Dr West said specifically that "this wasn't no WWF, or WWE... this wasn't a Wrestlemania." But as I sat there and really thought about it, the story that is laid out in the bible truly is laid out like one big pro wrestling match. I will try and explain this the best way that I can, but it will be readily apparent to any of you who have actually watched pro wrestling in the past. For the rest of you, I'll try my best to explain it.

It's the oldest form in the world, but on an emotional level it still works today as well as it did in the 60's, 70's, and 80's. Pro Wrestling Pychology 101 is simply this. In the beginning, the babyface(good guy) shines. For whatever reason, he is proved to be superior to the heel(bad guy). Maybe he is faster, stronger, or smarter, but for whatever reason he outshines the bad guy in the beginning of the match. Then, the heel takes the advantage away from the babyface, usually by cheating in order to gain the advantage away from the babyface. The heel then unmercilessly beats down on the babyface , with occasional spots of hope where it appears that the babyface will overtake the heel once again, before he is once again cut down by the heel. Then when all seems to be lost, the babyface makes the triumphant comeback and in the end is the prevailing victor.

So it is in the story of the bible. The babyface, in this case the Lord, shines in the beginning. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." This can be considered the shine because there is only God at this point and therefore he is by default "shining." Then, the heel cheats to take the advantage from the babyface. In the case of the scripture, Satan tempts the Lord's creation into disobeying the command that He gave them. Thus, God is forced to banish His creation from the garden of Eden and the sin of Adam delivers all future peoples into Satan's hand. The occasional spots of hope in the scripture come in the form of the different leaders that God raises up from His chosen people who in spite of how much hope they inspire in their people, they all have their faults and all end up failing to be the deliverer that they seem to be and Satan retains the advantage. Finally we must have the comeback and the victory. This comeback begins in the form of a baby born in a manger in a stable, and ends when Jesus is crucified and resurrected in order that Satan may be vanquished forever. This is the ultimate comeback in the ultimate wrestling match, one that has been going since the beginning of time, and continues to this day.

Grace and Peace

William Allen Nelson