Session 1
F i gh t
Like a Man
I see in Fight Club the strongest and smartest men
who’ve ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see
squandering. An entire generation pumping gas,
waiting tables, slaves with white collars. Advertising
has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate
so we can buy stuff we don’t need. We’re the middle
children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have
no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s
a spiritual war . . . our Great Depression is our lives.
— Tyler Durden in Fight Club
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G ro u p M e e t i n g
Welcome
Welcome to the first session of Fight. If your group members do
not yet know one another, introduce yourselves before watching
the video.
Video
Play the video segment for Session 1. Use the outline below to
help you follow along with the main points, filling in the blanks
as you go. (See the appendix for any words you miss.) Jot down
any insights or questions for discussion.
Notes
Men, God created you with a heart of a __________. There are
times we must put up a fight, a spiritual fight, where we stand
our ground.
J esus was full of love, grace, mercy . . . and he was the greatest
warrior who ever lived. In Exodus 15:3, God himself is called
a __________.
In Matthew 10:34, J esus acknowledged he “did not come to
bring peace, but a ________.”
“I looked for a man among them who would __________ up the
wall and ________ before me in the gap on behalf of the land so
I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.” (Ezekiel 22:30)
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Fight Like a Man 13
Two Principles for Being a Warrior:
1. Every warrior has a ___________ to fight for.
“Don’t be ____________ of them. Remember the Lord, who is
great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and
your daughters, your wives and your homes.” (Nehemiah 4:14)
2. A warrior without a cause to fight _________ will find the
wrong thing to fight _____________.
He might fight against authority . . . wife . . . boss . . . boredom.
Saul of Tarsus, before he became a Christian, fought against
Christianity (see Acts 8:3).
A warrior without a cause becomes a ______________ man.
When you see a man with godly ___________, you will see
a man reflecting the ___________ of God the Warrior, who
stands up for truth.
Two Ways You May Have to Fight:
1. Sometimes, you throw a ______________ (metaphorically and
spiritually — be active).
There are times when you have to draw your ________, and
your sword is the _______ of God.
Stand against injustice, stand up for the weak, fight in prayer,
leave a job that’s hurting you spiritually, or walk away from a
woman who is not your wife.
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2. Sometimes you turn a ________ (which often takes more
strength).
Fight with humility, repentance, _________ your sin, apologiz-
ing, asking for _______.
Conclusion: Deuteronomy 20:3 – 4 says that “the Lord your
God is the one who goes _______ you to fight for you against
your enemies.” The Lord gives you ___________. Your job is to
________ . . . and fight like a man of God.
Discussion
Take time to discuss what you just watched.
1. In your family of origin, how was “manhood” described and
modeled?
2. When you were growing up, what influenced you toward or
away from the idea that men are naturally supposed to have a
“heart of a warrior”?
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Fight Like a Man 15
How does the challenge of Nehemiah 4:14 line up with or con-
tradict those who influenced you as a boy and shaped your
early character?
Describe an early time in your life when you saw your own
warrior heart coming out.
3. How do you react to the passage in Exodus 15:3 that describes
God as a warrior?
In John 2:13 – 17, Jesus clears the temple of the moneychangers
and animal merchants. He makes a whip, overturns tables, and
his language is notably forceful. In what ways do you imag-
ine his anger was like your anger? How might it have been
different?
4. Jesus said in Matthew 10:34 that he “didn’t come to bring peace
but a sword.” Yet Jesus is called “the Prince of Peace” in Isaiah
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9:6. What kind of “peace” does Jesus not bring, and what kind
of peace is he the prince of?
Jesus also said in Matthew 26:52 that “all who draw the sword
will die by the sword.” What “sword” are we being warned
against using, and what exactly is the “sword” Jesus brings in
Matthew 10:34?
5. In Ezekiel 22:30, God said, “I looked for someone among them
who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on
behalf of the land so that I would not have to destroy it.” What
is a “gap” — a place of need and a worthy cause for you to fight
for — that brings out your warrior?
Knowing we are susceptible to picking the wrong battles,
describe a time when you fought against the wrong thing. What
price did you pay for that mistake?
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6. What is an example from your life of a fight that involved
“turning the other cheek”?
What is difficult for you personally when you have to engage
in that kind of fight?
Individual Activity: My Takeaway
1. Briefly look over the video outline and any notes you took.
2. In the space below, write down the big idea you want to take
away from this meeting. It may be a teaching point you want
to sear in your mind or something you sense God wanting you
to do.
What I need to focus on as a result of this session is . . .
Closing Prayer
Close your meeting with prayer.
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P e rso n al S t u d y
Reading
Read section 1 of the Fight book. Use the space below to note any
ideas or questions you want to bring to the next group meeting.
Study
God created men to have the heart of a
warrior, placing a desire within us to stand
up and fight for what’s pure, for what’s true.
A man has a warrior’s heart. You have a
warrior’s heart. You itch for a fight. That’s
God’s design, not ours.
Fight, page 13
1. People often describe their desired spiritual condition as being
filled with “peace” or being completely “at rest” or living in
“serenity.” While there are certainly biblical precedents for hav-
ing these worthy aspirations, they don’t tell the whole story of
our life with God — and they don’t capture the essence of what
it means to be a man. Many times in Scripture, God wants
to stir us up inside, not calm us down. Look up the following
passages, and note how you see God actually leading men away
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from being at rest and toward a challenge — or fight — of some
kind. Put in your own words what you observe:
Genesis 1:28; 2:15
Genesis 12:1 – 3
Exodus 3:7 – 12
Luke 22:39 – 46
John 21:15 – 19
Acts 9:10 – 19
Acts 10:9 – 23
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Looking back over these scriptural examples of God-
commanded initiative and risk-taking, what might be the role
of “peace that passes understanding” (Philippians 4:7) in each
situation?
2. What are some aspects of your life or personality that keep you
more in status quo mode rather than warrior mode?
What aspect of your own warrior heart do you find hard to
accept?
3. What do you think is the difference between having a God-
given desire to stand up and fight, and just being a combative
person?
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Virtually everyone who takes on a fight thinks he is right. Yet
we’re all human, and too often, we are blind to our own arro-
gance or self-serving agenda. As Dallas Willard observed, “It
is extremely difficult to be right and not hurt anybody with it”
(quoted in God Is Closer Than You Think, by John Ortberg, page
148). Seeing as that is true, how can we take on a challenging
fight without allowing ourselves to be blinded to the possibility
we may be in the wrong fight, or fighting in the wrong way?
Who is a good example of a godly fighter that you know or read
about, and what makes that person worthy to be emulated?
You’re already in a fight, whether you know
it or not. Your spiritual enemy wants to
take you out. He’s a master at making
strong men weak. Sometimes he does that
by making us comfortable, secure, and
safe, resigned to a mediocre life because
it’s familiar and doesn’t require much from
us. Is that really how you want to live?
Fight, page 27
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4. Read Matthew 13:18 – 23. As Jesus explains the Parable of the
Sower, he mentions three ways in which the seed is rendered
unfruitful. Which of those three conditions is most likely to
block your spiritual progress? What “fight” would counteract
that?
With what “cares of this world” or “deceitfulness of riches”
(Matthew 13:22) do you struggle? What steps can you take to
overcome their stifling influence?
5. Any of us can fall prey to living according to the values of the
world around us. The tragedy is not just the loss of what God
could have done through us; it’s also that our lives end up being
bland and purposeless.
If you watched a movie about a guy who wanted a Volvo and
worked for years to get it, you wouldn’t cry at the end when he
drove off the lot, testing the windshield wipers. You wouldn’t
tell your friends you saw a beautiful movie or go home and put
a record on to think about the story you’d seen. The truth is,
you wouldn’t remember that movie a week later, except you’d
feel robbed and want your money back. Nobody cries at the
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end of a movie about a guy who wants a Volvo. But we spend
years actually living those stories, and expect our lives to be
meaningful. The truth is, if what we choose to do with our lives
won’t make a story meaningful, it won’t make a life meaningful
either.
— Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
What about your life makes “the story of you” meaningful?
What fight are you avoiding that — if you really and truly
engaged in it — would turn your life into a story worth telling
for generations to come?
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Guided Prayer
God, thank you for giving me the heart of a warrior. Show me how I
can remove the barriers that keep it from being strong, courageous, and
fully yours. Help me get past my fears and insecurities, especially . . .
I confess there are times I fight the wrong battles. I can be stubborn,
and smug, and sure I’m right. But people I love have told me they see
this in me, and when I’m honest, I know they are right and I need to
change. Especially help me . . .
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I also know I sometimes get tired of keeping up with the battles I’m
supposed to win. Honestly, I wish some of my problems would just go
away — I’m sick of working so hard and not seeing results. But with
your help and power, I know I can fight and win, even if it takes the
rest of my life. Keep me in the battle, Lord; don’t let me give up in these
areas . . .
I am your warrior, Jesus. I will fight the good fight like a man of
God, using the tools of a man of God. When you need a ready man,
a good man, or a brave man . . . I am here to answer the call. Amen.
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