22 Dec On Mission Warrior (4 of 12)
THE ON MISSION WARRIOR (4 of 12)
Continuing our year-end series on “The On Mission Warrior”…check our previous posts for the first three if you missed them! 
FOUR (4 of 12): I will relentlessly battle pride by fighting for a God-centered worldview, by treating others better than myself and by striving to be unoffendable.
“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31, NIV)
One of the most important benefits and goals of martial arts training is to develop the ability to “remain calm in the storm.” When we are threatened by a potential violent situation, physically and/or emotionally, we need the ability to stay calm, not panic, and respond in the most appropriate way for the situation. In other words, we need to take a true measure of what’s going on and deal with that, not an imaginary one created by our fears.
In the battle against our pride and our seeming constant “need” as a culture to be offended by so many things, our best defense is a perspective that is a “true measure” of our situation.
During the recent election (and this is by no means a political statement of any kind), then candidate, Donald Trump, tweeted about Dr. Russell Moore, who is a leader in the Southern Baptist denomination. Trump tweeted that Moore is “A nasty guy with no heart.” Moore’s reply: “[This is] one of the few things I agree with Donald Trump on. I am a nasty guy with no heart. We sing worse things about ourselves in our hymns on Sunday mornings: we’re a wretch and in need of God’s grace.”
I remember hearing a story about a pastor who was approached by one of his congregants. The member proceeded to lambaste the pastor, telling him all of the things he was doing wrong and all of his failings and character flaws. When the member had finished, the pastor responded by saying, “Thank you, but I must disagree with you. As bad as you think I am, I am actually MUCH WORSE than you know. A wretch in need of a gracious Savior.”
This is a tough one and one that can only be accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit working in us! The more our life is truly centered on the Lord Jesus Christ and the glory of God and less on ourselves and our own glory and pride, the less offendable we will become.
From a self-protection standpoint, the less we can be offended, the less chance we will escalate a potential violent scenario, so it’s a very important attribute of a great martial artist. Infinitely more important is growing in this attribute as a follower of Christ. People often wonder what it means to “glorify God,” and I think that can be answered a lot of different ways. One way, however, that I believe He is glorified, is by us being so consumed with making a big deal of Him, that we never seek to make a big deal of ourselves.
Let’s pray for one another that the Holy Spirit will increasingly work in each of us to make us more “unoffendable” and less proud.
If you want a serious spiritual challenge, check out the “50 Fruits of Pride” document by clicking on the link in the comments below. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, though. 😊
Also, here’s a link to a nice article/book review on being unoffendable: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/unoffendable/
Keep Fighting the Good Fight!
Blessings,
Marco
OMMA Founder/Senior Instructor
Yondan – 4th Degree Black Belt
Attachment: on mission warrior.pdf (116.2kB)