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What would you do if you were a UFC fighter who just won a vicious cage match against a dangerous opponent? Celebrate? Pass out? Mention Jesus in the post-fight interview?
Yoel Romero went with the Jesus option…and took his worst shots of the night because of it.
In June of 2015, Cuban-born brawler Yoel Romero climbed into the ring to face Lyoto Machida, a fighter affectionately known as “The Dragon.” In spite of his terrifying nickname, Machida was handily defeated by Romero as he delivered the performance of his life. But Romero’s post-fight interview didn’t go so smoothly.
Wearing a white sweat band that read “John 3:16” in big red letters, Romero seized the opportunity to mention Jesus. But determining exactly what he said was tough; the fighter was still breathing hard and he could only speak in broken English. The one thing that rang clear was a praise about Jesus Christ.
Dana White, President of the UFC, wasn’t happy with the on-air interview Romero gave about his Lord. The fight boss thought Romero should have chosen another venue to declare his beliefs. “The reality is this: you just won the biggest fight of your career, America doesn’t want to hear your thoughts on Jesus. Keep that stuff at home. When you’re out there fighting and you’re being interviewed, they want to hear about the fight. It’s awesome you love Jesus; love Jesus all you want. You just don’t have to do it publicly.”
Isn’t loving Jesus publically the whole point? Granted, we don’t want to make a show or a spectacle of our devotion, but our witness, our testimony, and our proclamation can only happen in the public arena. We have to take the message of Jesus where people are. That’s the public!
2,000 years ago, some other men were told not to talk openly about Jesus. Here’s how they responded:
Then they [the priests and Sadducees] called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
Take Jesus as public as you can, as often as you can.
Click here for the online report. (Special thanks to Brandon M. for this story)
Topics Illustrated Include:
Athlete
Evangelism
Fighting
Gospel
Great Commission
Jesus
Lost in Translation
Praise
Sports
Testimony
Witness
(Resource cataloged by David R Smith)
