Thought of the Day 11.23.09

If you’re a major league pitcher, one of the hardest things you are ever asked to do is walk an opposing batter intentionally. The reason this hurts so much is because you’ve spent your entire life honing the art of beating batters, and now you’re being told to surrender. Your manager is asking you to swallow your pride and trust him that this walk won’t come back to bite you even worse.

Similarly, major league hitters are sometimes told to give up the one thing that defines them at the plate: a hit. To help the team by advancing a runner, they may be asked to lay down a sacrifice bunt or hit a pop fly. As hitters and pitchers, players must be humble about their role in the entire puzzle of a baseball game and also trust that the manager knows best how to construct a win from that puzzle.

The funny thing is how few people ever truly realize that Christianity is a team sport. And if egoistic baseball players can trust a fallible human manager like this, why do we get so disgruntled when God declines to let our lives produce the individual results we yearn for?