What will my obituary cause others to ponder? What can I do now to make them linger then on the sweetness of the gospel and the hope that can be ours in Christ? Will they look back on my life and say, indeed, death was swallowed up in victory?

On July 24th, the famous wrestler, known for ripping his shirts and calling everyone “brother,” died of a complication from a “medical event,” most likely cardiac arrest. I was driving when I heard the news and, even though I was never really a fan, I am acutely aware these days of eternity, judgment, and grace. Whenever I hear that anyone died, I am inclined to scour obituaries or, in the case of famous folks, news articles—searching for something—anything—that may indicate that they had acknowledged their sinfulness and their utter need for a Savior, and that they had found such a Savior in Christ Jesus. So, I confess that I did the unthinkable while driving: I asked Google if Hogan was a Christian.

Oh, the joy to read that he was baptized, alongside his wife, a year and a half ago. At the time, he spoke of his renewed faith in this way: “Total surrender and dedication to Jesus is the greatest day of my life.”^[1] Hogan said that he gave his life to Christ when he was a boy of 14, but what followed was a life of bad decisions and falling away.

“I was always a believer, but I didn’t completely surrender,” he said. “I thought I could drive better than He could. I thought I could make the decisions better than He could. And now He takes His hands off the wheel and says, ‘Okay. You think you can do it better, go ahead and do it.’ So, like I said, I got tired of crashing and burning.”^[2]

As I was driving down the highway and learning this about him, tears welled up in my eyes. In truth, I don’t know the final state of Terry Gene Bollea (Hogan’s real name)—no one on earth does. And I am aware of all the stories and accusations that could militate against his sincerity. Nevertheless, his confession led me to tears because his words and many of his actions, to the best of my cursory research, revealed a man who had encountered the living Lord and, in that encounter, bowed. To be sure, his public persona was intentionally arrogant and brash, but he openly proclaimed his surrender to his Creator. He boldly professed faith in Christ.

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