[bryanfal]

The Champ
By Bryan Faltynski

1 Timothy 6: 11&12

Minutes before the big event, Champ is in his locker room. Dozens of emotions are flying through his body. They seem to get tangled into some horrific dance in his stomach. Champ is used to the feeling, he has had it many times before.

In the distance, he can faintly hear the crowds. He can hear the tapestry of voices that weave together into nothing more than background noise. The gambling, violence, and alcohol of tonight’s main dish have intoxicated the spectators. It is a bleak scene, but it is Champs life.

Champ remembers every single time he has been in this scene. He remembers the same scene with different surroundings. Champ remembers victories. Champ remembers nothing but victories. Sure, he has had some failures, but on nights like tonight he remembers nothing but the victories.

Champ is a simple man. He never attended a fine college, and he doesn’t own a fancy car. He just lives in his modest home with his modest family. Life is good, no complications, no glitz, and no glamour. Sure, when he first got in the business, he thought that fame and fortune would be nice, but those dreams soon get taken over by mortgage payments, children, and, well, reality. Champ is never noticed on the street, and he never has to hand out autographs, he just exists.

Oh, Champ realizes that he does not really deserve his title. He knows that his record is mediocre at best, but he tries to keep his mind on the victories. Champ knows that things are going to get tough real soon. Thinking about his past failures only makes things tougher.

Champ gets ready and begins to head out of the locker room, through the tunnel, and out into the crowd. As soon as he appears, the sound of booing becomes deafening. He slowly makes his way through the crowd as they douse him with beer, garbage, and curses. He has been through this so many times he barely notices them.

Champ finally reaches the ring, and begins to warm up. After some elaborate announcements, and strange rituals, the bell rings. The fight has begun.

Champ circles, and throws a few jabs, but for the most part he takes some serious punches. He receives blow after crushing blow, and begins to feel his face go numb. The bell finally rings, and he is safe for the moment.

While he is taking a break he notices that just a few memories of his past failures begin to creep in.

Ding! The bell rings again. In seconds, Champ is back in the middle of the ring taking blows from his opponent. His knees begin to get weaker. Another failure flashes through his mind, and then it comes. Champ takes a huge blow right on the chin.
Next thing he knows, he is lying on the mat. “One! Two! Three!” But Champ is already on his feet. He is back in the thick of the fight taking more blows. He tries to dance away. He tires to fight back, but it is no use. He begins to see scenes of previous failures flash before his eyes with every punch. He remembers the way he looked after the last fight, how his nose was cocked to one side, and how swelled his eye was. Meanwhile the blows continue to come.

Again, Champ finds his way to the mat. This process goes on, round after excruciating round. Champ is getting pounded into mush.

Then, somewhere in the last round, Champ catches his second wind. Champ comes out swinging. He lands some great blows. He has his opponent stumbling back. Champ fought his opponent into the corner. Champ feels so great he takes his eye off his opponent for a split second, and WHAM!!! Champ is on the mat one more time.

ONE!!!
Champ sits there a while and just breathes. He tries to keep his mind off his failures but it is no use.

TWO!!!
Champ begins to realize just how comfortable the mat is. He drifts away.

FIVE!!!
Champ’s body is screaming in pain. His face, once numb, now is throbbing

SIX!!!
Champ begins to think about his family. He thinks about how much he wants to go home.

EIGHT!!!
Something inside champ suddenly stirs. He realizes that he has to get up. He decided that he is going to get up.

NINE!!!!
Champ feels as though someone is picking him up and putting him back on his feet. He is up and beats the count.

TEN!!!
Ding!

The round, and the fight, is over. Decision time. The judges tally their sheets. The wait is unbearably long. It takes all of Champs energy to hold his exhausted body up, while his opponent barely has a scratch. An eternity seems to have passed as the announcer walks to center ring with his microphone.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, the winner by unanimous decision is……CHAMP!!!!”
Champ collapses to the ground, thinking that he has failed, not even knowing that he has been victorious. He slowly realizes that it was his name that the announcer had said. “Unbelievable!” Champ thought. “But I did so horribly.”

The announcer steps over to Champ and says, “Yeah, you didn’t knock him out, but you kept fighting.”

Champ is you.

When you feel like the world is landing punch after punch, and you are knocked to the mat again and again, all you need to do is decide to get back into the fight. The Lord will pick you up.

In the end, YOU WILL WIN!!!!

We all will.