Question:  Dear Greg,

            I’m a senior in high school and I want to join the wrestling team but I am not sure about it because wrestling is a sport involving “violence”.  Can you tell me what the Bible tells us about things like this?

            Thanks,

            Magdalena

Answer:  Dear Magdalena,

            Your question seems to fall under what some Christians would see as a general category of sports that are “too violent” for Christians to be involved in.  The assumption would be that bodily harm could be caused to another if the sport is engaged in appropriately—or conversely, bodily harm could be caused to the participant by others even if the participant is not too vigorous in their involvement.

            The biblical principles concern the love we have for our fellow humans, the fact that we should not only not murder, but we should not engage in brawling, fighting, etc.  Jesus talked about “turning the other cheek”.  Christians variously interpret this-- some going so far as to say that we should not even use restraining force if someone were mugging us or a friend/family member.  So the discussion about what constitutes violence and what our response can be, as Christians, is a broad one.  A related topic is war, with Christians having at least four differing biblically accepted views on involvement in war.

            Back to your specific question.  You do not bring up one of the more violent sports—an “extreme” sport in which participants are engaged in combat.  Some of the more well known sports that could possibly be interpreted as more violent than Greco-Roman wrestling would include hockey, American and Canadian football and the martial arts.  While Greco-Roman wrestling could be defined as violent in terms of the potential for injury, my understanding is that the intent is not to cause bodily injury and that those who do so are penalized or even disqualified.  If one takes a “moderate” view of what the Bible allows and condemns regarding violence in sports, then such wrestling could be seen as acceptable.  But I am sure that there are some Christians who would not agree.  Their view may be just as correct, or even more so, than mine.

            In Christ,

            Greg Albrecht