Should Christians Practice Martial Arts? (Part 2)
By Mark McGee | Plus, Thinking About Who We're Becoming
*Editor’s Note: See part 1 of this series here.
by Mark McGee
Martial arts is well known around the world for developing both health and self defense among young and old alike. I began training in martial arts at the age of 12 and am now 72. I can personally attest to the personal benefits of building strength, flexibility, speed, and stamina.
As a Christian and student of the Bible I’ve also been intrigued by how martial arts was used by God’s people through the ages. I’ll begin by sharing some examples, then end with conclusions about the positive benefits of martial arts training as a Christian.
Abraham the Martial Artist
Abraham is known as the great patriarch of both Christianity and Judaism. What some people may not know is that he was also a great martial artist.
“Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. So he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people.” (Genesis 14:14-16)
I invite you to read the entire chapter for context. Abraham, an elderly man at the time, and his trained servants attacked professional soldiers who had kidnapped Lot and stolen his property.
The training of the servants is what caught my attention. Who trained them? They were born into Abraham’s house. The fact that Abraham joined with his servants in attacking the soldiers and rescuing his nephew tells me Abraham was both a skilled martial artist and trainer in the arts.
Moses the Martial Artist
Moses was a Hebrew raised in the royal Egyptian family. He spent 40 years learning everything an Egyptian prince would learn. That included martial arts and military training.
“And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.” (Acts 7:22)
Moses used his training to defend a fellow Hebrew who an Egyptian was beating. Moses moved quickly and effectively in killing the Egyptian and hiding his body in the sand (Exodus 2:12). That is an example of someone who had military training.
We later see Moses as an elderly man guiding the men of Israel in battling successfully against the Amalekites. He and Joshua were also successful in battles against the Canaanite king of Arad, Sihon king of the Amorites, Og king of Bashan (Numbers 21), and the kings of the Midianites (Numbers 31). Moses had trained Joshua and the Israelites well in the skills and strategies of martial arts.
Moses also trained Joshua and the army of Israel in the spiritual skill of warfare that would guide them as they entered the promised land and battled the Canaanites.
“When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. So it shall be, when you are on the verge of battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people. And he shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel: Today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of them; for the Lord your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’” (Deuteronomy 20:1-4)
Spiritual training is also important for Christian martial artists today. More about that below.
David the Martial Artist
The most famous martial artist in the Bible is probably King David of Israel. We know how he used his slingshot to kill the giant Goliath and how he fought brilliantly against the Philistines, Jebusites, and other enemies of God’s people. David was known for his skill in using martial arts in battle.
“Now it had happened as they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments. So the women sang as they danced, and said: Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands.” (1 Samuel 18:6-7)
David gave God the credit for his martial arts ability.
“Blessed be the Lord my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle—My lovingkindness and my fortress, My high tower and my deliverer, My shield and the One in whom I take refuge, Who subdues my people under me.” (Psalm 144:1-2)
Many of Israel’s kings after David fought battles until God used foreign armies to defeat Israel and Judah, but none of them could match the martial skills of King David.
Christians and Martial Arts
Jesus Christ fought the greatest battle of all time and won. He died on the cross and rose from the dead. There is no greater victory than that.
“‘O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?’ The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)
The language of the Bible toward martial arts changed to some degree from the Old Testament to the New Testament. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)
Paul told Christians how to fight spiritual battles in Ephesians 6 and also in 2 Corinthians 10.
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-6)
It’s interesting to see how often Paul used martial arts terms for spiritual warfare. Others include 2 Timothy 2:1-4; 1 Timothy 1:18; Philippians 2:25; and Philemon 1:2. We are to be soldiers in the Lord’s army.
Benefits of Christian Martial Arts
Christian martial arts instructors understand the physical and spiritual benefits of teaching martial arts from a Christian perspective. That’s why we include prayer, Bible study, and memorization as part of our teaching curriculum. We know that martial arts will benefit children, teens and adults’ health and ability to defend themselves honorably. However, if all I do as an instructor is teach martial arts for health and self defense, I’ve taught my students for only as long as they are in my class or practice on their own. That kind of teaching is temporary and lasts only as long as someone is alive.
Teaching martial arts from a Christian perspective trains students for eternity. Our first lessons are how to be saved. The spiritual lessons that follow include how to be disciples of Jesus Christ and eventually how to make disciples. That kind of training follows the guidance of the New Testament and is our highest calling as Christian martial artists—to make disciples and teach them to obey the Lord Jesus Christ in all things.
— Mark McGee has been training in martial arts for almost 60 years. He has earned Black Belts in various arts and is a 7th Degree Black Belt and Black Sash. Sensei McGee teaches classes in Florida and Alabama and also teaches privately. He teaches all of his classes from a Christian perspective and is a member of several Christian martial arts groups. You can read more about Christian martial arts at GraceMartialArts.com.
The Bulletin Bookshelf
From the hallowed bookshelves of The Worldview Bulletin, literary insights worth sharing.
What Sort of Person Should I Be?
Each human being has a project. In fact, we all share the same project. This project is to navigate the world in the best way we can. Each of us proceeds with the aim of being and doing certain things but not others. We aim to do the things that make sense to us and to avoid the things that don't. We navigate the world in light of our commitments and assumptions about what is good to do or to be. These commitments determine what makes sense to us and what does not.
. . . I try to make this point in some of the philosophy classes I teach. I write on the board this question: "What sort of person should I be?" I explain that this is the central philosophical question. It touches every major area of philosophy. The question opens inquiry about what sorts of things human beings are. What sort of world do we live in? How do we know about this world? The question connects to concerns about moral reality. Is there moral reality, and what is it like? How can we know about it? Is there a God, and if so, how does God matter to us? How can we live well together?
The question of what kind of person one should be is not theoretical. Your answer to this question affects how you navigate your life. Each person lives in a way that is based on his answer to that question. It is not that we think about the answer explicitly, but the way that we would answer it explains how we approach everything else. We may theorize about this question in the classroom, but we actually wrestle with it in the trenches of our day-to-day experience. Each of us answers this question with some idea of what the better life is. How we think about the good life reflects, among other things, our deeper assumptions about what it means to be a human being.
The question of the kind of person I should be leads to two others: What sort of person do I want to be? And what sort of person am I becoming? Coming to grips with the first of these two questions helps me discover my deeper desires and commitments. The second reminds me that I am surely becoming one sort of person or another. I am in process of becoming the person I will be.
It is striking how rarely we reflect on how our choices, habits, and patterns influence the kind of person we become. Our culture suffers from what I call moral atomism. Moral atomism is the assumption that each choice we make is largely independent of all our other choices. We think that our ability to decide is fresh and unhindered at each fork in the road we face. Like the ancient atomists who thought that the basic particles that make up reality were independent and interacted only by bumping into each other, we tend to think that each choice we make is isolated from every other choice. The truth of the matter is that each of our choices makes us either more or less able to make the right choices in the future. We train ourselves in our abilities to recognize and do what we think we ought to do.
From Our Deepest Desires: How the Christian Story Fulfills Human Aspirations by Gregory E. Ganssle (IVP Academic, 2017), 2-4.
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What's the names of the martial arts Moses,king David and Christian used during this time