Playoffs and Pushing God Away

You've worked for so, so long to get to this point. You put in more practice than your opponents, worked harder, and wanted it more. All those days of twice daily practices and the special diets have paid off; you've made the playoffs. All you have to do is finish this up with your full, undivided effort, and then everything will be great. You'll have so much time to focus on God and you'll be able to get to everything you've been intending to the whole season. You'll finally read that book your parents gave you, catch up on the study you claim to have done already, and you'll pray more often for problems. If I just finish up this little thing here, then I'll give God all the attention he wants.

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit" -- yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast in your arrogance, All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. -- James 4:13-17

It's a weird dichotomy when we feel like God has propelled us into a certain situation, but we feel like we need to put him aside to accomplish the goals we've given us. We may feel God has called us to sport, work, or any other activity, but right now it's just too stressful and tough to pray, read the word, or commune with believers. It's fine; I'll just put it off for a little bit, get the work done, and then I'll have plenty of time to focus on God again. What sort of standard does this set for our future?

1. We're falling into a habit of the world now, God later. Everyone has their own personal way of communing with God. Some pray constantly, some fast for wisdom, some study the word for revelations, etc. That doesn't mean that when push comes to shove, it's OK to put God off for a bit. Our love for God should be so powerful that it shouldn't even be a choice, and every time we make that choice against God, we're letting sin take hold.
2. We're pushing God out of our world. In Acts, God says that his people did everything together in the Lord. God gave Adam work to do in order to glorify God. We should be confident that God has given us the work in front of us and we don't need to push him out. God doesn't just want the private time when we can afford it; he wants our lunch breaks, our 3:00 meeting, our family dinners, and our 4th quarters. Don't push God away; allow him to take the reins in the hard times and let him show you and everyone else his plan and power.
3. We're trying to accomplish goals in order to earn time with God. Deep down we feel like we have to get this work done so that we can be guilt and conscious free when we come to God. God does not call the proud, the accomplished, and the strong. God wants you to come to him weak, humble, and empty so that he can fill you with himself. He wants to take care of the hard times, not just the easy ones.

When you get to the playoffs of life, don't push God out. Don't just wait for tomorrow for God; you don't know what's going to happen today. Let God rule today and let him worry about what will happen tomorrow too.

Matt Murton's New Circumstances

Matt Murton has had an interesting year. After struggling through parts of 6 seasons up and down through the minor league system with the Cubs, A's, and Rockies, Murton's contract was sold to the Hanshin Tigers for the 2010 season. All of a sudden this red-haired Gaijin that knew nothing about Japan was headed off to join one of the most popular teams for a country that goes nuts over baseball, and he had no idea what to expect. It's safe to say though that he didn't expect to shatter the single season hits record. Even though the previous holder, Ichiro, did his 210 hits in 130 games, and Murton did his 214 in the newly lengthened season of 144 games, it's fine to say that he enjoyed a great season (even if it wasn't legendary) with a final line of 349/395/499 with 17 HRs. Now he's been using his new platform to talk about God!

Murton was never anything fancy stateside. After a good season in 2006, he had his 2007 shortened with the acquisition of Cliff Floyd, relegating Murton to a 4th outfielder role. He spent 2008 and 2009 up and down without ever receiving regular at-bats in the MLB. By his own admission, Murton struggled to figure out what was going on after 2007. He often prayed to God, wondering if God had other plans for him. It turned out that God did. A Christian since the age of 6 after praying with his mother one day, Murton was sent to a foreign land where he relied on God exclusively to take care of his family, who braved the journey with him. God came through in spades, to say the least, blessing Murton's endeavors in baseball and allowing him a platform to preach the gospel.

Behold, God is my salvation;

I will trust, and will not be afraid;

for the Lord God is my strength and my song,

and he has become my salvation. -- Isaiah 12:2

Often times we may wonder why things aren't going well. We pray for God to humble us and draw us closer to him, then question God as to why he seems to be cursing our efforts in the world. Trusting in God is just that; trust. God wants to use you, and he alone knows what it takes to bring you to a place where you can trust fully in him to follow him. When things go off of our plans, it's not because God has abandoned us, forgotten us, or is actively working against us. Rather, God is working through our circumstances in order to show us the better plans he has in store for us. Matt Murton probably would not have gone to Japan without this sort of strange path, but I don't think he'd argue the notion that he's happy he's there now. God will provide us strength, opportunity, and inspiration to accomplish his plan, and we only need to trust in his power and not work against it.

Christmas

Just a quick post this week as we all head into Christmas; take a moment sometime this week to think about how amazing it truly is that God sent his son in human form to save us. He was born from a woman as we are, and faced all the trials and tribulations we do, and yet still lived to become a perfect sacrifice for us. Sports these days (and society in general) are so focused on how much we can harness our own individual talents in order to better ourselves that we forget the model that we are supposed to follow; one of complete reliance on the Father and amazing selflessness. Jesus lived and died sinlessly in order to save us, and all we have to do is trust in his salvation. That should blow your mind.

In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. -- John 1:4-5

Ted Barrett's Humble Strength

Being an umpire is rough. It's impossible to get every call right, and when you don't, everybody hates you. Even the people who respect you hate you. It's easy when taking up that call to put up a similar proud aura; you're running this show, and you demand respect. Ted Barrett, though, handles his business a little differently.

Do not be lead away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace... -- Hebrews 13:9a

As an umpire, Barrett knows he has to have confidence in there or he'll be eaten alive by fans, players, and coaches ready to jump anything close to a mistake. Berating the umpires is one of the great traditions of the game, and any umpire worth his salt knows how to ignore it and run the game the way he wants to. That said, it's possible to do this with humility and quietness. Common wisdom says that the great umpires are "seen, but not heard." They are able to command respect in the game based on their abilities, and keep the game going without making a show of their presence. In umpiring as well as the rest of life, taking direct insults without pushing back is extremely difficult; fortunately we lean on a God who has given an identity which he is responsible for, and he has justified our lives for us.

The vexation of a fool is known at once,

but the prudent ignores an insult. -- Proverbs 12:16

If you let them get under your skin, then they've won that battle. You have shown them that you are placing your worth, your justification, on something which needs your personal involvement to uphold. We don't need to do this. God is perfectly capable of justifying himself. When someone accuses the fatherless, the widow, and the poor, take up their cause. When accusations come from the ungodly, the Lord will defend our cause.

I will bear the indignation of the LORD

because I have sinned against him,

until he pleads my cause

and executes judgment for me.

He will bring me out to the light;

I shall look upon his vindication.

Then my enemy will see,

and shame will cover her who said to me,

"Where is the Lord your God?"

"My eyes will look upon her;

now she will be trampled down

like the mire of the streets. - Micah 7:9-10

God has come out and judged, and Jesus has born the punishment. He vindicates our cause against the baseless accusations of this world. Place your worth in Jesus' salvation and you'll be able to shrug off insults; they're not what you place your ultimate worth in. Be a little bit like Ted Barrett--confident, strong, and humble, but because the Lord has made him that way, not because he has worked for it.

We're talkin' 'bout Practice

As you may have realized by my incessant attempts to put words on a page, I'm the sort of person who enjoys forming arguments. I like to have my thoughts planned out ahead of time so that when the situation comes around to talk about it, I'm ready to do so. I think this stems at least partly from my competitive nature raised in sports. Only the incredibly elite and/or lucky can go into a high profile game unprepared and still excel; the rest of us have to practice in order to hone our skills.

The word "practice" has a nifty double meaning for Christians. In modern athletic terms, it means to drill and prepare beforehand so that our bodies and minds are ready to perform well when we are commanded to do so. In biblical terms, the word "practice" means to actively engage in activities so that they may have a profound impact on our lives. I don't think the two meanings are mutually exclusive in our lives.

Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you, by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. -- 1st Timothy 4:14-16

Practicing God's design is a lifestyle rather than an activity. By continually and diligently rooting out sin in our lives and instead working for God's favor, we facilitate a more godly mindset. People who are able to be humble in the good times are much more prepared to be confident in the bad times; the practice of devotion makes us more wholly devoted people. We still take cues from our Father and he still provides us with the commands to act, the tools to succeed, and the insurance of his fruit, but we can ready ourselves for such times. The practice of living for God inherently begets a more Godly lifestyle, and will allow us to be confident in God's plans when he presents them.

Glen Coffee's New Plans

It's not often you get players that up and leave a good career to follow Christ, but that's what Glen Coffee did. A backup runningback for the 49ers brought on to help Frank Gore out, Coffee was considered a fine NFL football player with a promising future. Back in August though, Coffee elected to quit football altogether because he said he felt like God had been calling him away from the game for a long time.

Go home to your friends and tell them how much the LORD has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you. -- Acts 5:19

Though we may have talents in sports, God does not always work through the things we find fun. Yes, I believe often that God does, but God will use you the way he wants. If he knows you'll do amazing things by going out of your element, then he'll have you do it. If he wants you to do what you have been doing your whole life, he'll make that clear too. The glory of God living in us is that he gives us the power to do everything he wants us to do. God does not delegate tasks and leave us to fulfill them; he empowers us to do them. God works this way so that the world will see him working, loving, living, and breathing in such a way that the events that transpire are wholly divine in nature.

Glen Coffee saw this. He saw that God used football to take him to college, where he would learn about Jesus' death and resurrection. Now that he has come to know God, Glen believes that God is using his life in new, more adventurous. It's almost certainly more difficult to abandon a life of fortune, fame, skill, and worldly prize for one of service, but God wants his people where he wants them. Whatever God's reasons are, we know that they are more amazing than anything we could think of. Continue to pray that God shows you what he wants you to do, and you too may find yourself somehow, by known of your own merit, accomplishing spectacular tasks you never thought you'd embark on.

God's house

Yet the most high does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says,

Heaven is my throne,

and the earth is my footstool.

What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,

or what is the place of my rest?

Did not my hand make all these things? -- Acts 7:48-50

It's a good thing that the Lord doesn't rely on the crafts of my hands, because that house at this point would be shoddy, ugly, and nowhere close to finished. Still, there is work to be done on the earth.

As an athlete takes the field, sometimes they may wonder if this is the work they should be doing. I imagine often that sports are thought of as a distraction from the real goal, and at times we may even hope that God is averting his gaze for a short time while we have a little fun, but it doesn't have to be this way. If we go into sport (as with all daily activities) with the mindset to give it to God, then it can become a joyful, godly activity. How can we do this?

1) Remember that the Lord is above all the earth. The Lord doesn't want to just control the spiritual part of your life; he wants it all. The Lord created us the way we are so that we can be beacons for him in our daily lives. Jesus encourages people many times (Mark 2:11, 5:19) to take the healing given and go into the world and proclaim it. This does mean our purpose has changed; it does not mean our activities need to change. While we should pursue God in everything we do, and some harmful activities need to be plucked out, sports can be done with the idea that we are growing close to other people in order to show them God's love. God is with you in sports just as much as everything else.

2) We can create God's house within sports. If you frequent this blog at all, you may know that this can be done either overtly (Josh Hamilton) or subtly (Brad Ziegler.) There's no reason to think of sports as outside God's realm. We need to remember the community that grows through sports, and we can use that to propel God's word into the kingdom at large. Make sure everyone knows how much of God's glory you take in when you finish a long run, or take the field in the bottom of the ninth, or nail your 5th free throw in a row, and people will eventually notice that you're getting something out of it that they're missing out on, and they'll gravitate toward it.

3) Remember that God made sports and wants them included as a material for his house. God made you the person you are, he made you the witness you've become, and he gave you the activities you enjoy for the purpose of glorifying him. If we think of sports as God's personal ministry he's entrusted to us, then it gives us that sense of purpose we may have been dodging or seeking for a long time.