I think MMA matches could solve a lot of ideological debates. I say this in jest of course, but I’ve seen many people pick dumb hills to die on. I’ve found this especially true in the realm of theology, theological concepts, and ideas of God and His relationship toward us. I think this is largely due to the fact that many people coming up with these Ideas are not in contact with reality. That is to say, I don't think they have to confront the physical and relational realities that most people have to deal with in their daily lives. Pastoring and working in ministry in the western world can be very insular. Not only does it lack the physical components of things like construction or fabrication, it can lack the rawness of communication, and tends to have a veneer of niceties that I can’t help but see as a fake. As our lives become more and more disconnected from the factual base truths of our existence, we are able to pick apart, with greater and greater finiteness, things that don’t really matter. Although theology is important, and having sound doctrine is a necessity, I’ve seen a trend tending toward teaching or debating ideas and concepts, rather than sticking to the plain realities of the word of God and the walk of faith. As a pastor or teacher or spiritual leader of any kind it is your duty to encourage, exhort, guide, and care for those entrusted to you by God. If you, due to the comforts of your position, lose touch with the plight of the common man and begin to teach on what you think the bible means, rather than what it’s directly stating, it becomes very easy to miss the mark, and even deceive. James says that those of us who teach will be judged more strictly. Doesn’t that mean we should only teach things we know to be certainties? Isn’t venturing out into speculation a hazard and a detriment? As an amateur martial artist, I’ve found that nothing brings reality into focus like a stiff punch to the face. Cage fights in the basements of our church buildings could help rid us of the minutia. We are apt to be more honest with ourselves during moments of vulnerability and weakness, and though seeing a bunch of pastors play rock ‘em sock ‘em robots with each other would be fun, perhaps just a little bit of honest self reflection would do the trick.