There once was a wrestler who was undefeated. He wasn’t the best, the strongest or the fastest but he never backed down and he had the scars to prove it. His nose was no longer straight, his face was bruised and a part of one of his ears was missing. He knew that he didn’t look good but those scars were proof that he could cope, that he had never backed down.
He was the undefeated wrestler and he could cope.
His opponents would gang up on him to try to defeat him but every time they knocked him down, he would get to his feet again and carry on.
He was the undefeated wrestler and he could cope.
He had been hit, kicked, and attacked in so many ways and he was proud of the way that had coped with it all. His pride would have caused him to grin if it wasn’t too painful for him to do so.
He was the undefeated wrestler and he could cope.
Then, one day it happened. As the wrestler was about to win again, his opponent was joined by several others who had come to put the undefeated wrestler down for good. They leapt at him and as he fell to the ground there was a huge cracking sound as his leg broke. The wrestler felt the pain shooting through his body but he was determined and so, believing that he could cope with anything, he began to stand.
After all, he was the undefeated wrestler and he could cope.
Through sheer determination and the use of the ropes around the ring he got up and was able somehow to balance on one leg. ‘Come on’ he shouted as his opponents advance, ‘you’ll never beat me’.
He was the undefeated wrestler and he could cope.
As the first opponent hit him he fell backwards towards his corner and as he fell he saw a hand reach out. In desperation, the wrestler tagged his partner in before he hit the floor. His partner leapt into the ring and said ‘boo’ and the fearsome opponents all ran away.
The wrestler lay on the floor in absolute confusion. He had fought for so long and so hard and it had cost him so much, why had he believe that he could or should cope alone?
Although he had never tagged his team-mate in before, they had never given up on him. His partner was always there with an outstretched arm waiting to be tagged in. The wrestler’s victories had cost him so much and yet his team-mate had won with ease, why had he never tagged him before?
It has been really encouraging to hear about the way that churches who have used these mission parables have been blessed, encouraged and challenged. Please do consider sharing this parable and questions in a service or perhaps emailing it to people in your church family or giving it to home group leaders. (If you would like to show the image of the wrestler while telling the parable, then use this link for a higher resolution copy).
Photo credit: Angle after regaining his Olympic Gold Medal at SummerSlam in 2005
