Wrestling and Wisdom

Certainly, the enemy has ways in which he can get his message across.  And, we have to make sure that we are contending for the faith in all the avenues and venues where there are ideas that are contrary to Christianity that are being related. We can recognize the resources that God has given us through which we can share truth and counteract the enemy's lies. Ephesians 2 states (ESV) tells us:
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

And, in Ephesians 6 (ESV), Paul writes:
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Gage, Till, and Kaden Helms are a set of triplets from North Carolina. A recent CBN.com article reported: "About a year ago, their parents gave the 18-year-old identical triplets, Gage, Till, and Kaden, the green light to get on social media–never dreaming they'd become literal overnight sensations."  Gage is quoted as saying, "We always talked to people about Jesus in person and stuff, and we knew social media was blowing up and we never had it our whole life, so we were like, we can use it for a good purpose..."

The triplets made a back-to-school video and it was, well, quite successful; Kaden said, "So, we made that video and then we posted it, and we went to sleep. It was at night; it was like 9 at night and then we woke up and it just blew up!" The article went on to say:

"And we were like, what just happened? We had 100,000 views in eight hours. It was crazy, and God just blessed it. So, then we were like, alright guys, we should actually do this," he continued.

Since then, 3n1trilogy as they're known on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, have been posting nearly every day. The brothers say their topics, which range from handling peer pressure to dating advice, come easily to them.

The CBN article noted, "When the triplets aren't posting videos, they're wrestling. All three have won numerous awards in high school and plan to wrestle together this fall at Gardner Webb University...," and added: "Their mom, Charity Estes, says she's not surprised they chose wrestling. Born prematurely, they literally had to fight for their lives."  The article also said:

The guys say wrestling has also taught them spiritual lessons.

"The Bible says that we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and darkness. So, this is a spiritual fight. Yeah, we're wrestling someone, physically, a person, but we're also wrestling against the darkness and spiritual," Till said.

A Daily Citizen article published on August 14 related that the young men "...recently spoke with Fox News about how their online evangelistic efforts caught fire."  It went on to say:

Today, the trio have over 393,000 followers on Instagram.

“We just want to be bold for the gospel, share the good news of Jesus and let people know that they can be bold for Jesus, and don’t be ashamed of that,” Kaden shared with Fox.

The article noted:

The young men’s evangelical efforts add to an encouraging trend among Generation Z amid mounting evidence of a “quiet revival” of Christian belief occurring among young men today.

According to The New York Times, for the first time in American history, men now outnumber women in churches. Last year, a survey by the Public Religion Research Institute found that 31% of Gen Z men identify as religiously unaffiliated compared to 39% women.

That excerpt made reference to an earlier piece that ran at The Daily Citizen by John Stonestreet of the Colson Center, who also noted: "Newer data from the U.K. shows a surprising reawakening across the pond, where church attendance overall has long been much lower than in the U.S. In April, the Bible Society reported that church decline in England and Wales “has not only stopped, but the Church is growing, as Gen Z leads an exciting turnaround in church attendance.”   Stonestreet, who is heard regularly on the Breakpoint commentary on Faith Radio, added: "Like in the U.S., young men in the U.K. are leading the return to church. Among the 18 to 24 age group in the Bible Society survey, 21% of men attended at least once a month, compared with just 12% of women the same age."

Well, it appears that God is up to something among young men - not only is there statistical data available, but the Helms triplets' rapid growth in social media followers also shows that their message is resonating.  Even though you have researchers who are trying to figure out Gen Z, there is a growing enthusiasm among the things of the Lord among that age group - perhaps they are turning to Scripture and finding the answers they are looking for among peers who are facing challenges in various areas, including their mental health and well-being.

The Helms also recognize there is a spiritual battle that is occurring.  They are award-winning wrestlers and due to the circumstances of their births, they have grown up with a fighting spirit.  But, they have channelled that in the right direction, and now, through their relationship with Christ and their boldness to testify to the truth, they are seeing how they can confront the forces of darkness.

These young men can certainly be an inspiration to all Christian believers.  There's a Scripture in Psalm 81 (ESV), that says: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it."  I think I may have heard that verse taught with respect to speaking truth - perhaps as we open our hearts to the Lord and set our minds on obedience, that we can depend on Him to give us just the right words to say that can penetrate hearts with the power of the gospel.