Not the Book Review You Expected to Read on Credo (Timothy Raymond)

I’m taking this opportunity to make an embarrassing confession to the world: I used to be a professional wrestling addict.  While I haven’t watched any significant pro wrestling in probably 20 years, during junior high and early high school I watched it nearly every night of the week.  From Monday Night “Raw” all the way through to The Saturday Night Main Event, the heroes of my youth included such distinguished individuals as Hulk Hogan, Randy “Macho Man” Savage, the Ultimate Warrior, and Lex Luger.

Somehow my church found out about my old addiction and for this year’s Pastors’ Appreciation Month bought me Lex Luger’s recently released autobiography Wrestling with the Devil: The True Story of a World Champion Professional Wrestler – His Reign, Ruin, and Redemption.  While I did not anticipate enjoying the book (I pretty much only read biblical and theological studies), I was pleasantly surprised.  From the first page I was not only hooked, but I was reliving my adolescence.  More importantly, the book chronicles Lex Luger’s conversion to Christ and growth in discipleship and, thankfully, does so in mostly theologically-accurate categories.  Consequently, Wresting with the Devil turned out to be not only a fascinating read, but also a spiritually encouraging story and a potentially very useful evangelistic tool.

For those fortunately ignorant of professional wrestling history, Lex Luger, also known as “The Total Package,” also known as the “Narcissist,” also known as “The All-American,” was a rock-star in the 80’s and 90’s.  He was a three-time world champion, the first person to defeat Hulk Hogan for the championship on national television, and the only person to ever body slam 600-pound sumo wrestler Yokozuna.  Lex was built like Arnold Schwarzenegger and sported a blonde mullet that was the envy of every guy in junior high.  And yet, as is evidentially the case with so many professional wrestlers, his personal life was a complete wreck.  In discreet yet honest detail, Wresting with the Devil recounts years of drug abuse, immorality, a failed marriage, more drug abuse, stints in jail, health problems, the inevitable end of a wresting career, and depression.  We see Lex Luger, the once great champion, sitting in the county jail, contemplating suicide.

Everything changes when a Southern Baptist prison chaplain tosses a Bible into Lex’s cell.  After being rebuffed several times, Lex and the chaplain eventually become an odd couple of friends who have many evangelistic conversations over several months.  Lex swipes a copy of “God’s Simple Plan of Salvation” (not realizing that tracts are generally meant to be given away), which he reads countless times.  After being released from prison, he moves in with chaplain, begins attending church, is eventually converted, and today is being regularly discipled by his local SBC pastor and is involved in several ministry opportunities.

Unlike many bizarre celebrity conversion stories, the story of Lex’s coming to Christ is rather ordinary and mundane.  He never meets an angel, never goes to hell and returns, and never literally wrestles with the devil.  There is a time when he overdoses on drugs and “comes back to the light,” but the overall emphasis is clearly on Jesus’ saving work and is, in many ways, an ideal model of an evangelistic relationship and faith commitment.  The book concludes with one of the clearer presentations of the gospel I’ve seen in a biography.

As far as theology goes, it is obvious that this book is not written by a trained theologian but by a new Christian with a very rough past trying his best to winsomely describe what God has clearly done in his life.  Consequently, if you’re a pastor or a theologian, you’ll find many minor points where you’ll quibble over unclear definitions, unbiblical assumptions, poorly explained concepts, Bible verses taken out of context, etc.  Yet, despite all the quibbles, salvation by grace alone through Christ alone for the worst of sinners comes through loud and clear.  I believe a non-Christian would at least come to understand the Christian gospel as a result of reading this book.  Furthermore, this book also highlights the importance of friendships with unbelievers, personal evangelism, and the role of the local church.  The Lord only knows where Lex Luger would be today had that SBC chaplain not doggedly pursued a friendship with him.

While I have no intentions of relapsing back into my old addiction to professional wrestling (if I do, I hope my fellow Credo Magazine editors would pull an intervention!), I thoroughly enjoyed Wresting with the Devil.  I pray that Lex Luger continues following the Lord, remains accountable to his local church, and under the mentorship of his pastor.  If you have unbelieving friends who are wrestling devotees, or if you are a recovering (or current) wrestling addict yourself, this book is highly recommended.

Timothy Raymond is an editor for Credo Magazine and has been the pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Muncie, Indiana since April 2006. He received his MDiv from the Baptist Bible Seminary of Pennsylvania in 2004 and has pursued further education through the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation.