Wrestle not with flesh and blood?!?

In yet another sign that the modern church has fallen far from the Reformation, a new ministry has been making the rounds: ULTIMATE CHRISTIAN WRESTLING! Yes, and once again I am nigh dumbfounded. The gentlemen here bought into a vision of UCW Founder Rob Adonis (real name: Rob Fields), who said:

"I had a vision that I could combine two of my passions, Professional Wrestling and Evangelism. I had always wanted to do something like UCW, but I did not have the “CALL” from God. I have always believed that God will reveal his desires and only then should you carry out his business. On June 3, 2003 I got that call. I felt the ability come over me. . ."

Adonis continues, proclaiming, "Our mission is simple. Our methods are unique. Our results are unquestionable. Welcome to the most Christ fired ministry going today. Welcome to The most unique blend of spirituality and entertainment ever brought together. Welcome to the Future."

If you look at their schedule, it appears they spend a lot of time at Harvest Church in Athens, Georgia - appearing on a monthly basis for several months at a time. This caught the attention of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (might have to register to read) who covered on of the nights of wrestling/violence/entertainment/violence(?), writing:

A loose network of pro and semipro wrestlers, UCW is the brainchild of Rob Fields, an otherwise mild-mannered English teacher at Woodstock High School. Fields, who lives in Canton, has been body-slamming for God since last summer and claims more than 200 souls saved.

At each UCW event, matches alternate with testimony, gospel and prayer. Fields' crew wrestles for little or no pay, and the boss takes no salary, using the love offering collected at weekly matches, plus sponsor support, to cover costs.

Witness Fields (aka "Rob Adonis"), a 6-foot-4, 285-pound package of ministerial menace, getting trounced by Lee "Lover Boy" Thomas, with a succession of choke holds, chin blasters and a thunderous flying leg drop from the top rope.

When Thomas and his manager, Mr. Evil, gang up on the hapless Adonis, pounding him and stealing his UCW belt, we have to wonder, is the first going to be last tonight?

What would Jesus do?

Very likely he might try the Adonis Suplex, a patented "finishing" move (in wrestling parlance) that sends Thomas crashing to the mat and puts the championship back in Adonis' hands.

"There are other ways, other than going to church, to get the word out," he said, adding that wrestling encompasses universal themes. "This is good and evil."

Truly.

In one match a pair of bad guys had bested a babyface — a good guy — and were ready to power-bomb the fellow through a folding table when "Adonis" stepped in to offer himself as a Christ-like substitute. Boom. Through the table he went.

"How many Jesus Christ fans do we have in the house?" Adonis hollers after the finish, to a cheering response.

"There is only one reason we need to be making noise tonight," he tells the audience of about 200 gathered in the Zoom Town roller rink, somewhere amid the kudzu on the outskirts of Holly Springs, "and that is the Savior, our living Lord."

Tully Blanchard, Ric Flair's former partner in World Championship Wrestling, offered his own testimony during a break in the Holly Springs match and stood ready at the altar call — a regular feature of UCW events — to counsel any new believers. Though none approached the ring that evening, wrestling, he said later, can win souls that conventional worship can't. "If you're fishing, and you don't catch fish, change bait."

I wonder if the apostles ever thought of doing this? I imagine that James and John, the SONS OF THUNDER, would have made a pretty good tag-team in this ministry? I doubt they did and yet, somehow, they managed to turn the world upside down!