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Pro-wrestler Sting chooses Christ Friday, Jun 3, 2005 By Sara Horn |
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Welcome to the world of professional wrestling, a multi-million dollar industry that entertains millions of fans each week through live shows and television. For more than 20 years, this was Steve Borden's world. Borden's fans know him as Sting, a nine-time World Championship Wrestling titleholder who often descended onto the ring from rafters hundreds of feet overhead and unleashed trademark wrestling moves known as the Stinger Splash and the Scorpion Death Lock. His black and white face paint and black trench coat spoke of impending doom when he entered the ring, and his skills as a wrestler helped him to defeat other wrestling greats like Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold Steve Austin. By the mid-1990s, Borden had reached the height of success within the wrestling world -- enjoying international fame, money and everything he'd ever wanted. But something was missing. "I realized I had achieved everything the world calls success, but I was not happy," Borden said. "There was something in my life that was really, really empty." Traveling away from home and his family for months at a time, Borden turned to pain medication and alcohol to escape the issues that were building in his life and within his marriage. He admits things were out of control. "In 1996, God really began working on my heart," Borden said. For two years he was desperate to find God, he said. He went forward at a Promise Keepers rally and prayed the sinner's prayer, and again at an evening church service. But he says his expectations of God were wrong. "I wanted God to wave a magic wand and make everything better, but my life just continued on the way it was and things got worse and worse," Borden said. "My mistake was I thought I'd just get my fire insurance, so I would be sure I'd go to heaven, but God couldn't work in my life because I wasn't surrendered to Him. I needed something supernatural to happen in my life. I needed God." After breaking down and confessing to his wife his addictions and the immoral lifestyle he'd been living on the road, he then turned his life over to God completely. Borden finally understood what scriptures like John 8:32 ("You will know the truth and the truth will set you free") meant. He stopped abusing painkillers, drinking alcohol, and even his language changed overnight. "I didn't have to be a chameleon anymore and wear all these different hats depending on who I was with," he said. Borden's wife accepted Christ a month after he did. "We have experienced blessings and miracles in this marriage, and we just know God is alive and well," Borden said. "The joy and peace is just so amazing in my marriage now. I look at my wife with eyes that I never knew I could look at her with. I know now what love is, and it's not a feeling." The world champion wrestler continued to perform in the ring after he accepted Christ, and for two-and-a-half years he let his example be his testimony, as well as finding opportunities to talk about his faith with wrestlers like Hulk Hogan, Bill Goldberg, Scott Hall and Ric Flair. While he considers himself semi-retired, Borden still makes his way back to the ring when he's called -- both in the states and overseas -- and enjoys surprising the fans with an appearance. As his alter ego Sting is known for saying: "The one thing you know about Sting is you never know about Sting." And the one thing Steve Borden knows is this: "Don't walk in mediocrity with one foot in the world. Go for it [with God] and watch what happens." Borden's book and DVD, "Sting: Moment of Truth" are available at LifeWay Christian Stores. --30--
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