Tag Archives: Gospel

Keep your eye on the ball…

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“In the beginning….”
Genesis 1:1 (ESV)

Where is baseball first mentioned in the bible?  In Genesis 1, “In the big inning…”
(rim shot please)

It’s baseball season here in the land of “Field of Dreams.”  The last couple of summers I’ve had to miss most of my oldest son’s ball games because of community theater commitments, so this year I thought I’d pitch in and help out with the team.  It’s a lot of fun hanging out with a bunch of 3rd and 4th graders on these beautiful spring days.  They learned very quickly that’s I haven’t played ball in close to 30 years, but they’ve been very accepting of my help.

Here are some lessons I’ve learned from watching little league baseball:

  • You have to keep your eye on the ball.  We know this applies to hitting, but it also applies to fielding the ball as well as just playing the game in general.  If you want to hit the ball, you’ve got to watch it cross the plate.  If you want to catch the ball, you’ve got to watch it into the glove.  If you’re on the field, you’ve got to know where the ball is at all times.  The ball is the game.  If you want to win, keep your eye on the ball.

In our Christian lives, we have to keep our eyes on the ball as well.  We have to remember that our lives are not our own, that we have been purchased with a price, and that we are to live for the glory of God in everything we do.  A resolute passion for the glory of God should influence every decision, govern every purchase, guide every word.  If you want to be victorious in life, to overcome all things, keep your heart fixed on the glory of God.

  • You’re probably not as good as you think you are.  It never ceases to amaze me how a 10 or 11 year old can think He’s God’s gift to baseball.  He already knows more than the coach, has his swing perfected, considers practice an inconvenience, and the golden glove and Nike endorsements are only just moments away.  Usually these are the players who blame the umpire when he strikes out, the field when he misses an easy out, and the rest of the team when they lose a game.  Unfortunately, this kind of attitude usually learned in the home, and is so common in sporting that there is nothing to discourage its continuing to flourish.

One of the sobering realities of the Gospel message is that we are all sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God.  Our righteousness, our good works, are like filthy rags, stained and polluted in the eyes of God.  We polish the thin veneer of our self-righteousness to a high glossy shine, but deep within were nothing more than a selfish, self-centered 10 year old who thinks he’s God’s gift to Christendom (second only to Jesus, of course).  We blame the world, the politicians, the church, for the problems of the world today, and just wish we could get back to the “heart of Christianity” without ever really knowing what that means.  It’s the sins of those around me, right?  Or could my sins have something to do with the world’s problems.

The more I realize my own brokenness, the more I learn to lean on the everlasting arms of Christ.  The more aware I am of my sinfulness, which leads me to the grace and mercy of God in Jesus Christ, the closer I come to true holiness.

  • You get better the more you practice.  While it is important to remind the kids who are playing that they have a long way to go, it is also important to encourage them as they make improvements along the way.  These little 3rd graders have a hard time throwing the ball across the field.  But every time they try, they get a little closer.  The coaches are there to run them through the disciplines, base running, fielding, hitting, and throwing.  As the players follow the coach’s lead, they grow and improve.  It may seem like going through the motions, but they are being prepared for the real game.

The Scriptures teach that we are all sinners, but they also teach that we are being made holy by the transforming work of God’s Spirit.  As we study God’s Word, as we come before the Lord in prayer, as we serve one another in love, the Holy Spirit encourages us, empowers us, to keep on growing.  We take up the Spiritual disciplines, like reading, praying, studying, worshipping, and working – and sometimes they do indeed feel like discipline.  All the while, God is working His good work within us, rooting out sin, and growing us in righteousness.

  • You play better as a team.  There are nine players on the field for a reason.  One person cannot possibly play all positions.  Players need one another on the field. They’ve got to talk to each other, work with one another, encourage each other in order to win.  A player is part of a team, but without the team, there are no players.

The Christian is never a Christian apart from the Church.  The Community of other believers is an absolute necessity in the life of a follower of Christ.  As Christians, we are a part of the body of Christ, as a body, we are many units that make up a whole.  A Christian cannot exist in isolation.  Christians need one another – we’ve got to talk to one another about our faith, work side by side with each other in service and ministry, encourage one another.  A Christian is a part of the Church, but without the Church you cannot be a Christian.

  • You have to listen to the coach.  As a player, you are not the coach.  The coach has the advantage of age, experience, and perspective that you do not have.  The coach has a strategy for the game, a particular order for batting, a roster for pitching, and considering the opponent, will play the team accordingly.  As a player, your job is to listen to the coach.  When he tells you to run, you run.  If he tells you to slide, you better slide.  If he knows a strong hitter is coming to the plate, he’ll tell the outfield to take a few steps back; not because he wants you to suffer by having farther to go at the end of the inning, but because he wants you to win.  If you want to play ball, you better listen to the coach.

I can’t say this any clearer – You are not God.  You are not the creator and giver of life, you did not create the stars and spin them in their orbit.  You do not possess the power, the experience, the wisdom, the perspective to be in control of your own life.  And that’s okay.  God is in control, and the sooner you learn to listen to Him, to follow His commands, to trust in His word, the more joy and contentment you will find in life.  When God says “No,” it’s because God knows what is best.  When God says “Yes,” it’s because He wants to shower you with blessings.

See you at Home Plate!

SDG

The Medicine for Sin

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“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance,
 that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”
(1 Timothy 1:15 (ESV))

I heard the comedian Brian Regan joke recently about getting to pay for his Doctor to insult him.  You know what it’s like; who else do you visit who requires you to wait for 30 minutes just for the privilege of having him tell you that you need to lose some weight and probably ought to do something about that mole on your face.  And we pay him for the insult.

But in all seriousness, I’d rather have the Doctor tell me the truth about my health than lie to me just to protect my feelings. The truth is, I am overweight and need to exercise more and shed a few pounds.  If there is a cancerous growth, I want him to tell me, then recommend, though difficult and painful it may be, the best remedy so that I might live a good long life with my family.  I want my Doctor to care enough for me to tell me the truth and to make me take the hard medicine that comes with it.

If you think about it, that is the job of the church as well.  The priority of the church is to proclaim the gospel, which is the message of the good news of God’s love and forgiveness from sin in our Savior Jesus Christ.  As Paul’s letter to Timothy reminds us, Jesus came to save sinners – that was his mission, that is our message.  Jesus said to the crowd that stood by in disbelief when Jesus entered the house of Zacchaeus the tax collector, “the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).  All sinners, regardless of the sin, are welcome, invited, to hear the Savior’s bidding, and to find salvation and hope.  The blood of Christ washes away sin, defeats sins power over us, and in His Spirit we are given new life to live for the glory of God in holiness and peace.  It has been said before, and I wholeheartedly agree, that the church is the hospital for the sin-sick soul, and the gospel is the medicine that has been entrusted to the church. 

Yet it seems that for a while now the Church’s medicine cabinet has been closed and locked.  The church has begun to tell the world, “You don’t need medicine.  You are sick.  The sickness is the judgment that made you think you were sick in the first place.  What you need is simply reassurance, God loves you just the way you are.”  That’s like my Doctor saying, “Your ballooning waste line is nothing to worry about, keeping eating the pizza and drinking the root beer and you’ll be fine.  See you next year.”

To get to this point in the church (or at least in my particular denomination, the PC(USA)), there have been three subtle shifts that have taken place.  First, there has been a Redefinition of Sin.  The old moralistic and puritanical definition of sin as those thoughts and actions that either disobey or neglect God’s word no longer qualify.  Instead, in a more enlightened age, sin is now that which brings harm, either interpersonal, environmental, social, or personal.  Sin is the oppressive force that subjugates the weak.  To that end, the progressive church has also Relocated Righteousness and Salvation.  Righteousness and salvation are now less of a personal issue, and are more focused on social righteousness and justice.  Salvation is from the oppression of cruel and unjust practices of those in power, and true redemption exists when we learn to live in peace and acceptance of one another.  At the heart of these two changes is the most important: a Reimagining of Scripture.  Setting aside the teaching of the Authority and Inspiration of Scripture, the church no longer says that it is the Truth, but that it “contains the truth.”  No longer do you hear preachers say before reading the Bible, “Hear now the word of the Lord,” but rather something more ambiguous like, “Listen now for a word from the Lord.” 

In a desire to be found acceptable by a dying and broken world we have taken away the one thing that the world needed most; the truth of the gospel for salvation from sin.  The hospital for the soul is still open, but we’ve stopped treating the patients.

I say this with all confidence: God’s Church, the body of believers in Jesus Christ, will not be diminished by the faults and failings of this assembly we call the church today.  Denominations will rise and fall, congregations will come and go, but Christ’s Church is victorious.  We must “be vigilant lest while the pious snore the wicked gain ground and do harm to the church” (2nd Helvetic Confession).  We must, with renewed compassion and diligence, boldly proclaim the gospel message, that whatever the sin (addiction, sexual sin, pride and self-righteousness) – Christ is the cure.  Yes, let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing stream (Amos 5:24), and at the same time let us confess our sins to one another and pray that we be healed (James 5:16).  Let us never forget that wherever the gospel is faithfully proclaimed and humbly heard, God’s true church will flourish and grow in righteousness and grace.

Grace and peace – and truth – be with you!

SDG