Picking a Fight
Braveheart is one of my favorite movies. While it tells a wonderful love story, it also has many challenges for me as I look at the life of William Wallace. Near the end of the movie as his life comes to an end, he cries “Freedom”. That moment always touches the warrior heart in me. I want freedom. Freedom from so many things that ensnare me. At one point in the movie, the Scottish Nobles are trying to negotiate a comprimise with the English and Wallace heads out to the meeting and his men ask him “Where are you going?” and without hesitation he replies “I’m going to pick a fight”. He had had enough of comprimise and decided that it would be freedom or death.
I recall one of my own life situations as a teenager where I had a Willaim Wallace type day. I was an 8th grader in Leverett’s Chapel School, it was a school where K – 12 all went together in a rural East Texas community. There were about 500 kids from K – 12, each class had around 25 kids. There was this guy, Johnny Wray, who was in the 9th grade and he was BIG. I was lanky and about 140 lbs soaking wet and John was stocky and well over 200 and solid muscle. He was center on the High School football team and he was a solid. Johnny dated Michelle who was in my class. Everyday when I would see Johnny he would punch my arm, I mean every day! One day I had just about enough, so I uttered a few explitives and invited him outside to settle it once and for all. I was a total idiot! He could have killed me.
And as school house fights go, there was a crowd and we faced off. Johnny looked at me and smiled and the next thing I know, my nose was bent sideways and the blood was gushing! I turned and walked away, humiliated and defeated (at not wanting another of those mind rattling punches to the head).
William Wallace courage, no, some courage yes. The remarkable thing about that day, was that it was not a loss as I and you would have thought, but was probably one of my most victorious days as a youth. You see two things happened that day after the fight. The first was that the High School football coach, Coach Jackson, stopped me in the hallway and recounted the tale of the fight as told him and laughing he put his hand on my shoulder and said “I hope you come out for the football team next year, thats the kinda guts and determination we need”. Wow! What feeling to be wanted by the coach. I played football all my high school years at Leverett’s Chapel. The best part of that was all the things I learned as part of that team and from Coach Jackson about life.
The second benifit of that day was Johnny Wray. Johnny was my friend from that day on. As I recall he intereceeded on my behalf several times when I was about to get a good school yard butt kicking. He was my friend.
Whats my point in this? Sometimes we have to pick a fight, we cant always just roll with it. It is definitely that way spiritually. We can plod along for sometime without really taking a stand. We experience defeat after defeat, or one arm punch after another. But when we decide to stop and stand, to resist the devil and hold or ground, to scream freedom and are ready to die to walk in it. I think we will find that heaven’s coach is saying to us, “thats what I am looking for in my players!” I believe we will also find that we are not alone but have a defender to help us through those struggles.
I love how The Message says it in Ephesians 6:10-12 And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.
