THE CHAMP
How do you define greatness? What are the qualities of the men and women that do extraordinary things and achieve greatness? I can’t tell you! I have none of the qualities needed. However, by the grace of God I have had the privilege to know a very few people that I consider great. One of them is Lex Luger!
During the 1980s and 1990s professional wrestling was a craze. Its popularity was with a very large and diverse number of people. Many of the wrestling stars became celebrities that were famous worldwide. The most famous of those wrestlers was known as Lex Luger. I sincerely believe that Lex Luger was perhaps the most famous man in the whole world during his glory years.
Lex played collegiate football at The University of Miami and then professionally for the Green Bay Packers. The Green Bay Packers were so proud of Lex’s great success and fame via in the professional wrestling rink that they enshrined him in their Hall of Fame. Lex’s physical frame and physique was extraordinary. Lex had an internal drive to excel and compete that propelled Lex into professional wrestling and demanded that he was great! Lex became a wrestling mega superstar. For years, he would dominate the sport and become a world champion on three different occasions. He competed against only the greatest of the other professional wrestlers. Lex Luger’s appeal was so broad and expanse that Mattel made action figure toys of him for children. Millions of people cheered for him each and every time he stepped into the wrestling rink.
Lex would go on to chronicle his life and the battles he fought along with the storms he endured during his life in his book “Wrestling with the Devil”. Lex goes into great detail while describing the actions, deeds and the events which turned him from being the greatest physique and best body in the world into an C5-C6 quadriplegic hospitalized at The Shepherd Spinal Center in Atlanta, Georgia in 2007.
In October 2007 Lex flew into San Francisco for a conference. While there he had a type of seizure or stroke that would paralyze him. After several weeks in a Bay Area hospital in the Bay Lex was transported to The Shepherd Center in Atlanta for treatment. This was the best option and venue for Lex to find any type of recovery. The Shepherd Center was also in Atlanta where Lex made his home. This was an act of God providing help and grace to Lex.
My pastor (Steve Baskin) was the person most instrumental in the conversion of Lex into becoming a believer in our Lord Jesus Christ. Steve had kept the church body appraised of Lex’s condition throughout his time in the Bay Area and continually sought the prayers of the members of the church on behalf of Lex.
The Sunday before Thanksgiving I asked Pastor Baskin if my wife and I could visit with Lex. I had no thoughts of being able to provide Lex with any great, profound or inspiring words. I simply felt like I needed to go see him and do what I could to encourage a man very young in The Lord. I have some very good memories of Lex and his early days as a Christian. I remember him once coming into church a little late and the sermon had already started. Lex had walked down to the pew I was sitting on. I was sitting on the end of the pew and was resting my arm on the end of the pew. I felt a presence near the right side of my face and turned toward it. Frankly I was shocked to look 12 inches away into the face of a giant man staring at me. All he said was “move over!” At that moment I had instantly already made peace with God and made sure that all my sins had been forgiven! There was no need to finish the sermon or to give an invitation on my behalf. I was right with God at that moment for sure. Later I had the privilege of seeing Lex be baptized. I can also recall watching Lex in a televised wrestling match along with my sons and praying that Lex would someday become a believer and then a witness for Jesus Christ.
Those memories and thoughts were crowding my mind as I walked down the hall of the Shepherd Center toward Lex’s hospital room while holding my wife’s hand. As we walked, I prayed for help and direction on what to say to Lex. I was humbled just to be able to visit with this man that was in many ways so much bigger than life. I was stricken with the realization that I knew that there were absolutely no words available to me that would make his life better. I began to question the sanity of me saying anything at all to a man in the nightmarish situation that Lex was living in.
When Val and I knocked on the door we were acknowledged with a “come in”. Lex was in a hospital bed on the far side of the room. Several people were there from a Christian magazine talking with Lex. They very graciously stepped aside and allowed Val and I to come to Lex’s bedside. Lex looked up and smiled. I was amazed at that smile. Here was a man that only had slight movement from the neck up, but he produced a smile. I noticed that the little finger on his left hand was twitching slightly. His left foot was sticking out of the covers and you could see the toes also twitching. Lex was already working on his rehab diligently even though it was one twitch at a time. Every journey begins with the first step regardless of how far the trip will take you. These were very slight movements but very difficult for anyone in the condition that Lex was in.
Lex was literally rehabbing himself one toe, one finger, one anything, at a time. He was not giving up and was already working with everything that he had within himself to regain any strength that he once had. I was in awe!
Lex was physically paralyzed. He had already gone through many great storms and dealt with numerous disasters in his life. He had been wealthy but now financially dependent on others. He had probably been the most physically admired man in the world for nearly a decade and had been known worldwide as “The Total Package”. But at that moment Lex was a very frail man physically. He now required another person’s help in order to dress, feed and clean himself. His fame was now a memory and his future held no promise of a better tomorrow.
I struggled for the words that I had prayed so hard to know and find before getting to Lex’s hospital room. I probably then asked the most stupid question anyone has ever asked someone in that condition. I said “Champ, how are you doing?” … Immediately I wanted to take all the air out of the room so that I could catch my ridiculous words before anyone heard them. How can anyone ask a paralyzed man lying prostrate in a hospital bed that question? It was obvious to anyone that could see that Lex was not doing well physically. Everyone in that condition is being challenged mentally and spiritually to the absolute limits of endurance. Lex’s condition was far more serious than I can adequately describe.
Then the Lord took over. Lex looked up at me and gave an incredible smile and said, “Chuck, I am doing great!”. I was taken back. I thought for a moment. I deserved a rebuttal answer for my stupid, stupid question. But to my amazement Lex was being sincere. I clumsily apologized for my question. But Lex looked directly into my eyes and said, “Chuck, God put me here for a reason. This is a good thing that I am here and God is good. This is a blessing!”. I braced myself and tried to gain some sibilance of poise. I then responded with, “Champ, I need for you to please explain that to me. How is it a blessing for you to be paralyzed and in this hospital bed?”
Lex looked up and explained that the events and mistakes in his life had left him estranged from his children and ex-wife. He was divorced and his children had decided that they did not want him in their lives. Lex had been praying for a way to re-connect and possibly reconcile with his children. He then told me that because of his past the director of the Shepherd Center had initially resisted letting him come there for treatments. However, she relented and allowed Lex to come to the Shepherd Center. When Lex arrived, he was able to demonstrate to everyone that the person he had been, was no longer the man that he now was. Lex had become a new creation in Christ and was now a different man. Lex then said something that rang all the chimes. He told me that after he had been admitted into the hospital the director’s husband had been talking with him about various things. That man just happened to also be a coach on one of the teams that Lex’s son played on. That gentleman had expressed a desire to assist in some way to help Lex reconnect with his son. Lex then said this, “God is so good. God put me here to help me get back with my son! Isn’t that great?!?”
Lex had been humbled in every way that I think a man can be. Yet he was still persevering through his enormous anguish with a competitive drive that cannot and will not quit, surrender or retreat.
I don’t know if Lex and his son ever reconciled. However, what I do know for a fact is that only a great, great champion can experience such pain, heartache and disappointment and then still realize and profess the mercy and love of God! That type of courage and resolve requires qualities far beyond what it took for Lex to become one of the most famous and admired celebrities in the world.
For most of his adult life Lex has been surrounded by groupies and other people that just hung on. They were people that would cling to him because of his success, fame and money. They never achieved much for themselves, but they would mooch off of Lex and his celebrity. Please understand that I do not claim to be a close friend to Lex. However, he taught me so much that evening. Lex Luger gave me a completely new perspective on what it takes to be special for God. So many want to do great things but only a few are willing to pay the price and endure the pain to achieve greatness. Everyone wants acclaim. Only a very few are willing to produce the sweat, shed the tears or exert the effort required to earn all the things necessary to attain it.
Lex taught me that victory is not always won with a clinched fist raised over and above an opponent. Sometimes a great victory is won in a hospital bed. I learned that a strong belief and dependence on God is far superior to any championship belt or ring. Faith in God is eternal and all material things are temporary. A man or woman with an indomitable spirit such as the one that Lex has cannot be conquered.
Before Christ came into Lex’s life, he was a world champion wrestler. Now Lex has a greater title — A Man of God! He now lives his life fervently serving his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus has never lost a battle. The Lord Jesus will remain undefeated all through eternity. Lex will forever be a member of the family of God which is comprised by the believers in Jesus Christ. Lex now is winning souls for Christ. Those victories make an eternal difference with the souls of men and women. Those victories are not temporary. They will last forever! The glory of any conquests Lex had on a football field or in a wrestling rink lasted only until the next game or next match. The victories that Lex has, are now for Christ, and they are going to last for all eternity. Lex competes now for the souls of men on behalf of Jesus Christ. Those wins will yield eternal consequences and blessings for each soul of those men and women. Any soul won for Christ is trillions of times more valuable than any title, trophy, belt or money Lex has ever won playing football or competing in the rink!
Lex Luger is and will forever be a member of the only undefeated team in the universe. He is a first teamer on God’s team. Lex Luger is and will always be a Champion for The Lord Jesus Christ!
Selah
Charles J. (Chuck) Busby
