I Know A Guy Who Killed A Guy...And Other Stories

So I knew this guy in college. I had just started training for MMA and found out that this guy I had known all through college had trained in a bunch of Martial Arts since he was a little kid. Shotokan Karate from age 4, Tae Kwon Do at 7, the Judo and Muay Thai. He was about 6’2” and probably about 240 lb., but he looked like your computer tech guy, was very smart, and super nice. Every now and then he would help me get ready for fights, and he could kick me in the face faster than I could throw a punch. One time, I hadn’t heard from him in a few months. Eventually I met up with him and found out that while being a security guard a guy pulled a gun on him. The guy had a friend there. My friend killed the guy with the gun and knocked his friend out.

There was this guy on our team named Todd. He was a really nice guy, was a janitor at one of the local schools. He was about 5’8” and 155 lb. You would never know by looking at him, but he held the record for the fastest submission in KC.

Lastly, my closest friend, Brian Jones. I personally never got to see him really do his thing. I wish I could have because I heard some amazing stories from just about everyone. Brian was one of my trainers and had the chance to move up in the MMA world back in the early days. I truly believe if he did he would have been one of the greats at 170 lb. Brian was freakishly strong and incredibly quick. I would hold mitts for the guy and even if he wasn’t hitting hard it felt like he was using a couple of bricks. I watched him hold down strong 225lb. guys like he was a bully in a schoolyard. But Brian always made the people he was around feel like they were the most important people in the room. And when Brian and I talked about why he quit competing, it was clear that Brian valued his family way higher than he did trying to make a name or career as a fighter.

Matthew 25 has a story about ten virgins who go out to wait for the wedding party to come along. They take their lamps with them. 5 are wise and bring extra oil. 5 are foolish and do not. When their lamps start running low, the 5 foolish ones ask the others to share their oil. But the reply is, "We don’t have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.” While they are away buying oil, they miss the wedding party. They went to the wedding feast, but they were shut out with the answer, “I don’t know you.”

What’s the point? Some of the most beautiful lamps are running empty. Especially right now as times are complicated and confusing. While some of the lamps that are extremely full rarely catch anyone’s eyes. Some of the guys I have known seem more dangerous to me than almost anyone I have ever seen in the ring. Yet these guys chose to leave the stage. And people on the street had no clue what power they had speaking to them.

There are a lot of people today even in Christendom, who are running around making names for themselves as ministers. Meanwhile some of the people making the biggest contributions and biggest sacrifices look meek, much like the people they are serving. Many make huge claims all over the internet and stir up arguments, while these people quietly work.

I am not trying to put down anybody who has put in their time, sacrificed, and has been given reward. I am simply saying this: You have no idea the spiritual weight someone you know may be carrying. They may be the most unassuming person in the world, but they may be doing a lot with their time. Their prayers may be ones that carry a lot of weight simply because of the relationship they have built with God.

While it is hard not to notice these people when you get to know them, some of the greatest warriors have chosen to go unnoticed.