Former mixed martial arts fighter Ken Shamrock is urging Christians to “not sit on your Bible” in a time when many believers feel their faith is marginalized by society.
“Don’t sit on your Bible,” Shamrock urged Sunday while delivering the sermon at Valley Bible Fellowship in Bakersfield, California. “Don’t hug it to your chest and keep it to yourself. God created you a certain way. Just because you’ve become a Christian doesn’t mean you become passive.”
Many within the Christian community have long heard the adage that faith is personal but not private. Shamrock emphasized that lesson over the weekend, urging the Golden State congregation to openly share their beliefs with those around them, The Christian Post reported.
The retired wrestler and UFC Hall of Fame inductee encouraged listeners to never “pass up an opportunity to spread God’s gospel or his word because it is eternal life or eternal damnation.”
Shamrock, a native of Macon, Georgia, and known by many as the “World’s Most Dangerous Man,” also used the sermon to highlight his own personal experiences, which he believes can help others cope with the struggles they are facing. He said that, at times, his ego has gotten in the way of the truths he has tried to share.
“I believe God is using me to reach out and touch people who are struggling with either past experiences or experiences that are going on right now,” he said. “And that being able to talk about some of the things that I have gone through would help them understand that there is another way for them to get past some of the demons that they’re working through.”
The former MMA fighter opened up about his difficult childhood, including the poverty he faced, his decision to run away from home, and his criminal record. Shamrock credited his spiritual growth as a teenager to his time at a boys home directed by the man who eventually adopted him, Bob Shamrock.
“The only difference between that group home and all the other ones that I went to was church,” Shamrock recalled.
Aside from his career as a professional fighter, Shamrock invests a lot of his time and money into public speaking engagements and charity work with at-risk youth.
