“Knowing Christ is the best thing that has ever happened to me, although winning the US Open was a pretty good second.”
Wrestling for my life
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Shawn Michaels, Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 2014. ISBN 978-0-310-34359-2
The book describes itself as “a story about God’s faithfulness” and lives up to that billing. It is the story of how Shawn Michaels found faith in Jesus Christ and lived out that faith in WWE professional wrestling. His testimony is simple: “I never had any withdrawals once I quit. I found Jesus, and I was done with the drugs and pills”.
The book is a chronicle of how Michaels struggled “to make those two worlds—being a wrestler and a Christian—co-exist”. For me that issue was by far the most interesting aspect. It gives real insights into the challenges of the celebrity Christian. Chapter 8 in particular is excellent.
Michaels understands what it is about: “I don’t believe that God really cares if I was the greatest wrestler ever. I believe that He cares instead that after I became a Christian, I used my gift for His glory”.
Sadly he has to confess: “after I returned to wrestling as a Christian, I caught more flak from Christians than I did from wrestling - fans who weren’t believers”. And of course he refers to the numerous people who told him that he should be spending his time exploiting his fame by speaking in churches across the country.
I suppose you could ask if WWE really qualifies as sport. The book confirms what we are already knew: that WWE is “a business centered on fiction… make-believe, with Vince deciding whether you get to be a champion or not. Wins and losses are not real”
The book is a great story of God changing a life and using someone in WWE. Whether the book qualifies as book on sport and Christianity is less clear.