is it bad that I'm a Christian but my career of interest is mma?

[Never thirsty!]

I ask this because my sensei said I would excel at it him being a former mma fighter but I want to do this because if I win the ufc or something big like that I would use that as an opportunity to give God glory for letting me win and donate 80% of the cash to faith mission warm or some other organization that helps the least of these who could truly use it 10% goes to God and the rest goes to putting food on the table and paying the bills, but in order to win I've just broken people's bones and beating the living snot out of them and 1 they have done nothing to me and 2 if they did God says "Vengeance is mine."(sorry about it being so violent but that's the reality of the brutal sport we call mixed-martial-arts.)

[Mullet Death]

Do you have the intent to kill or seriously or even permanently injure your opponents? If the answer is no, then I'm guessing that God may not be upset about your involvement in a "violent" sport. There are a number of ways to look at this I think, but you just need to ask yourself if your passion for these sports hurts your relationship with God. I don't think there's anything inherently evil about self-defense sports. It may not be pacifism, but the intent to ruin someone's else's life isn't there, is it? Are you trying to profit from the injuries of another man, or are you just trying to win? Will you use any means necessary to win, or are you not actively trying to break people's bones like in professional football? If you're just doing your best and sometimes things happen then that's not necessarily wrong. Everyone stepping into a ring knows the risks after all. All in all it just really depends on your attitudes and intentions and how you're going a about all this.

[Peanut]

Yes. Moving on.

[Xeno]

Thank you jesus for allowing me to severely maim my voluntary opponent in an entertainment blood sport for cash prize. To you truly be all the glory. I would also like to thank budweiser, okiepro casino online, and marlboro black nxt: the smooth one.

Yes. Moving on.

[PandaPop]

Being a big MMA UFC fan my first thought is, no its awesome lol. But like mullet death said its all about your intentions. If your intentions are good and you really feel God pulling you toward that I would say go for it, because being a fan I know how big a platform that is to really share the Gospel through interviews, twitter, facebook ect. and of course mission funds as you said. God can use many different platforms to reach different types of people.

[Mullet Death]

Yes. Moving on.

Care to elaborate out of my curiosity, or are you just being unhelpful?

[shooraijin]

Peanut, if you're going to make a post like that, back it up.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Because Christians shouldn't be needlessly violent.

[Nate]

But if you're in MMA you need to be violent therefore it's not needless.

[K. Ayato]

Oh, come on. I took karate as a preteen and into my early teens. I struggled with one verse, Ephesians 6:12 (mainly 'cause I was taking it out of context), but I was still able to earn and receive my blue belt.

[Atria35]

I think it's totally fine that you're into MMA. Plenty of Christians are into sports that aren't the gentlest of things (football comes to mind instantly, along with hockey, and even boxing), so I don't think it's a bad thing in and of itself. I haven't seen Jingo Jaden on here in a while, but he does boxing and obviously doesn't see it as interfering with his faith as a Christian.

What I would hesitate on is you saying that you would use the sport to glorify god. What I think the others were getting at is that if you go out there and after a match, say that god's grace was what let you win (or something equivalent, insert own words to god here) I think you're giving off the wrong image of God. Would God want to be glorified via you breaking someone's bones and bloodying them up? I think the one thing that most everyone on here would say that no, violence should not be used to glorify god and, as it is simply a sport and you're not making a moral standpoint of anything, using it to evangelize is really a terrible way to go. In fact, I have that same issue with most all physically-battering sports players doing that, because of the message it sends.

The idea that comes across is that God is a-okay with using physical violence to spread His word, and as I have never seen Jesus condone that (old testament is a little more iffy but that's a different story) I do not think that it is the away to go.

It's where I would separate the spiritual from the secular. Doing MMA is fine, it's okay with as a career choice, but don't piggyback your religion onto it.

[LastLfan]

Look up Jason David Frank, he played tommy oliver on the original power rangers and now not only is a karate black belt(can't remember which style) as well as running a karate school and has invented his own style of karate. He is a mma fighter and outspoken Christian. He also runs a Christian mma clothing line called Jesus didn't tap. I don't do mma but I do take karate an he is a huge inspiration to me as to Christian martial artists.

[Jingo Jaden]

Newsflash, most sports are generally a result of the VERY best individuals in the world on their field. Be it racing, horseback riding, boxing, MMA, soccer, basketball, rugby and the list goes on and on. You endanger yourself and others in the pitch.

In boxing which I am actively doing, i know that most of the 'fatal' injuries generally happen late-game. And nearly exclusively after the boxer in question has already sustained a concussion. Boxing with a concussion is life-threatening, much more so than being massively over-matched early on. Though, it should be said, glove-development in boxing is the prime reason for the fact that injuries are now far lower than what they would have been 50 years back, whereas MMA does not have this grace yet, though, allowing a more active use of the legs also creates less room for the killing distance which is nearly permanently used in boxing, meaning less blows will be focused in on the head and if a good kick lands, it's generally the end of a fight. Which is why you got trained medical staff, a referee, and coaches with white towels nearby.

As far as the violence goes. The others in the ring are not innocent bystanders, or feeble-minded fools. They are trained athletes who have one objective when they step into that ring, and that is to put you on the ground. Want to be a good christian? Set the good example. Don't cheat, be polite, set an example, and make sure you work that jab. If it goes well, donate some of your winnings to worthy causes and charity. Use the attention to do good things.