00:01Hey, friends. I want to say this as a Christian. I want you to hear it from a clean heart.
00:09I do not say this today because I hate any politician, and I don't say this because I
00:16dislike any promoter. I do not say this because I hate UFC fighters, UFC fans, or anyone who
00:27enjoys combat sports. This is not about despising people. And as followers of Jesus, we are not called
00:36to despise people, are we? No. We're called to discern what is right, what is wise, what is holy,
00:45and what kind of spirit we are allowing to shape our nation. And that's why I believe a UFC fight
00:55connected to the White House is not something we should support. The White House belongs to the
01:02American people. It should represent service, humility, justice, responsibility, sacrifice,
01:12and care for those who are struggling. It should not become a stage for celebrity spectacle,
01:19political branding, corporate promotion, or money-driven entertainment in the name of
01:27somebody's birthday. And I want to say this plainly. Two men beating each other up in a cage should not
01:35be a sponsored, celebrated, or symbolically blessed event by our government. Now, it doesn't mean
01:44there's anything wrong with those men. They're human beings made in the image of God. They have
01:50families, stories, discipline, pain, dreams, and souls. And I'm not mocking them. I'm not denying their
02:00athletic ability. I'm not pretending that they have not trained hard. But there's a difference between
02:07private adults choosing to compete in a sport and the government attaching itself to the spectacle of
02:16men damaging one another for entertainment. Now, that difference matters. It matters a lot to me.
02:24Because government should exist to serve the people, not entertain power. You see, public office is not
02:33supposed to be a marketing platform. It's not supposed to be a throne for celebrity culture. And it's not
02:41supposed to turn the pain, aggression, blood, and violence of a cage fight into a symbol of national
02:50strength. As Christians, we have to ask a deeper question. Does this look like Jesus in any way? I mean,
03:01Jesus
03:01never taught us to worship violence. He never told us that the greatness of a nation is measured by
03:08how loudly it celebrates dominance. He never said strength is proven by hurting someone else.
03:15He never built a movement around spectacle, intimidation, or physical power. Jesus taught us to care
03:25for the poor. He taught us to care for the poor. He taught us to remember the forgotten. He taught
03:31us to
03:31protect the vulnerable. He taught us to love our enemies. And he taught us that the greatest among us
03:38must become servants. So when public office starts looking more like a stage than a place of service,
03:48we should stop and ask what we're becoming. Families are struggling right now. People are fighting to
03:57afford groceries. Rent is crushing households. Medical bills are terrifying families. Debt is burying people.
04:07Loneliness is destroying people quietly. Parents. Parents are trying to raise children in a world that
04:16already feels too harsh, too angry, too divided, and too addicted to performance. People do not need
04:26leaders who turn government into entertainment. They need leaders who remember them. They need honesty.
04:35They need humility. They need wisdom. They need mercy. They need public servants who understand that
04:45leadership is not about being celebrated. It's about carrying responsibility. And that's where Jesus
04:53gives us the standard. Jesus had all authority, yet he washed feet. I want you to think about that for
05:02a
05:02second. The Son of God did not use his power to build a spectacle around himself. He did not use
05:10his
05:10position to impress the powerful. He did not chase applause. He did not glorify violence. He did not teach his
05:20disciples to dominate the weak. He knelt. He served. He touched the untouchable. He welcomed children.
05:31He defended the shamed. He defended the shamed. He noticed widows, cared for the beggars, lepers, sinners,
05:40outcasts, and people everyone else walked past. That is the heart of God. So when we see public power
05:49wrapped around celebrity, money, combat, and spectacle, Christians should be able to say,
05:57this does not look like the way of Jesus. And we don't say this with cruelty, self-righteousness,
06:07hatred, but with moral clarity. Power without humility becomes dangerous. Money without compassion
06:17becomes corruption. Entertainment without wisdom becomes distraction. Leadership without
06:27service forgets why it exists. And violence without spiritual restraint can become something a
06:35culture begins to worship. And that's the part that should concern us. A cage fight is built around the
06:45image of two human beings striking each other until one wins and one loses. Again, I'm not denying the
06:56discipline involved. I'm not denying the skill. But Christians should be careful when a society begins to
07:03confuse controlled violence with moral strength. Jesus showed us a better kind of strength.
07:12The strength to forgive. The strength to suffer without becoming cruel. The strength to tell the truth
07:21the truth without hatred. The strength to serve when you could demand to be served.
07:30The strength to lay down your life instead of building your identity around taking someone else down.
07:38That's why this matters. The White House should remind us of public duty. It should remind leaders that
07:46they are accountable to the people and ultimately accountable to God. It should remind the nation that power is
07:54temporary. Leadership is sacred. And authority must be used to protect, not perform. When the symbols of
08:05government are used to elevate spectacle, we risk teaching the wrong lesson. We risk teaching young men that
08:13greatness is found in domination. We risk teaching the country that violence is entertainment worthy of national
08:22honor. And we risk teaching leaders that public office exists to build a brand instead of serve the broken.
08:32And we risk forgetting the people Jesus told us never to forget. The hungry. The sick. The poor.
08:43The prisoner. The stranger. The grieving. And the overlooked.
08:52The person sitting at home wondering if anyone in power even knows they exist. Even cares about their
09:00problems. Because that person matters more than any spectacle. We just spent a hundred million dollars
09:09setting up a fight between two men who will bloody themselves until one wins and one loses.
09:16Well, cuts are made to social programs that help people put food on the table. Help them pay bills. Help
09:25them
09:25live a life. And those people matter more than ratings. They matter more than branding. And they matter more
09:33than some damn political show. And as Christians, we cannot let our politics make us forget the teachings of
09:42Jesus Christ. We can pray for political leaders and still question what's going on right now.
09:50We can pray for entertainment executives and still say this is not appropriate. We can pray for fighters and
09:59still believe that our government should not sponsor or celebrate two men beating each other up in a cage.
10:08We can respect people as human beings while rejecting the message that's currently being sent.
10:17And you know what? That's not hatred. That's discernment. The world already has enough violence,
10:25enough anger, enough division, enough glorification of power without tenderness, enough men being taught that
10:34toughness means hardness of heart, enough public life turned into performance. The church should be
10:43different. Followers of Jesus should be able to say that strength without love is not the strength of
10:52Christ. Power without humility is not the way of Christ. Leadership without service is not the model of
11:03Christ. Jesus did not come to entertain the powerful. He came to save the lost. He came to heal the
11:12wounded. He came to proclaim good news to the poor. He came to set captives free. He came to show
11:22us that
11:22God's kingdom does not look like the kingdoms of this world. So today, I'm measuring this moment
11:33by Jesus. Not by ratings. Not by ratings. Not by money. Not by celebrity. Not by political excitement.
11:43Not by who claps the loudest for the guy who just beat up the other guy. I'm measuring it by
11:50the towel
11:51and the basin. I'm measuring it by the Savior who knelt. I'm measuring today by the cross,
11:58where Jesus absorbed violence instead of glorifying it. And by that standard, I will not celebrate the
12:08White House being connected to a cage fight. I want better for this country. I want better for our
12:16leaders. I want better for our young men. I want better for the people who are hurting right now in
12:25this country. And I want Christians to remember that our highest loyalty is not to a party, a politician,
12:33a celebrity, a brand, or a nation's spectacle. Our highest loyalty is supposed to be to Jesus Christ.
12:43And Jesus showed us the way. Power should kneel before service. Money should bow before mercy.
12:52Leadership should remember the hurting, not glorify hurting. The government should serve the people,
13:04not sponsor the spectacle of human beings hurting each other for entertainment.
13:11government. My name is Douglas Vandergraaf, and I believe in Jesus Christ. God bless every single one of
13:23you. And may God bless those in our government who need it now more than they ever have.
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