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.

Manny Pacquiao's Prayer

Pac-Man is pretty much at the height of his game right now. He's still winning fights against much larger opponents, he is appearing on nighttime talk shows, and he is a congressman in his home country of the Philippines. Regardless, Pacquiao still finds time to pray to the Lord, thanking him for all the blessings in his life. As you can see by the picture, he does this with incredible sincerity and quietness despite everything going on around him. Pacquiao's life right now is clearly one of incredible turmoil, chaos, change, and pressure; yet he still finds time to go directly to the Lord in silence.

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. -- Luke 18:13-14

Too often we neglect this time of prayer. It's hard enough for most of us to get prayer in during a public meal; how are we supposed to pray during sports? The fact is that we need heartfelt prayer for everything we do, and sports are no exception. Pacquiao's way of praying shows his incredible gratitude for the Lord, and his humility in being able to express his faith so quietly. Ironically, this quiet display becomes very loud in the public's eye. In a world that is encouraging Pacquiao to revel in his accomplishment and be proud of his amazing athletic prowess, he refuses and goes back to the Lord for guidance. When we go to the Lord for prayer while in public, even when we're scared and confused of what form it should take we can remember this example. Just be thankful for everything the Lord has given you, and faithfully request his guidance henceforth; no grand public displays needed. The Lord will provide everything else you need if you have this attitude.

God's Design: Where We Fit In

A young man asked me recently how one is supposed to deal with insulting situations. He told me that when somebody confronts him and tries to put him down, he feels obligated to defend himself in whatever manner the situation warrants; physically or verbally. As humans most of us boil down to one of two impulses in these situations: fight or flight. As Christians though, and new people in God, we are given a third option; trust.

I think its fair to say that some people involved in sports practice as a way to justify themselves to other people. They want to let their actions speak for themselves so that everyone knows what sort of person they are, and if confronted, they can point out their accomplishments. If somebody called me slow in High School, I could prove them wrong with medals and ribbons, and doing so filled me with an intense, albeit shallow, sense of pride. To borrow a metaphor from a comedian I heard a long time ago, this sort of pride is a lot like Fruit Stripe gum: extremely gratifying for a few seconds, although quickly replaced by boredom and staleness unless constantly refreshed.

You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. -- Ephesians 4:20-24

As Christians, we don't need to justify our identities anymore. We give our lives to God precisely because our actions without him are meaningless, and we desperately desire him to come and save us from ourselves. When we give our lives to God, we recognize the fickleness of our accomplishments, and finally let God define what we are. Since God is defining us, we don't need to prove anything to anyone. When people around us question what it is that's defining us as people, we can simply tell them that Jesus died on the cross for us, loves us eternally, and we live our lives trying to help him in whatever way he wants. We let God's actions speak for us; and we delight in the fact that his actions are infinitely more worthwhile and amazing than anything we could ever do.

God's Design: Ben Zobrist

I'll go ahead and reveal a startling revelation to you all: Not everyone is called to full-time ministry. While everyone is called to give their life to God, not everyone is meant to be a Priest, Pastor, or other such jobs that require extraordinary charisma and articulation. On a related note, Ben Zobrist is not Grant Desme. In addition to being a Major League Baseball player instead of a prospect turned Priest, Ben is a man who felt God's call was for him to pursue baseball.

Coming out of High School, Ben didn't receive any calls from scouts. As the son of a pastor, while a very talented athlete, he had planned to go to college to begin his path as a youth minister. He felt God nudging him a little bit, so he decided to use his leftover birthday money and attend a college scouting camp despite his parents' misgivings. Ben received an offer from a school, but told his parents he would submit to their will if they believed God's call for him was in ministry. His parents asked him what he thought God was telling him, and he told them he felt like God wanted him to play a little more, and his parents let him play having showed such maturity earlier. He took the scholarship, was drafted a few years later, and broke into the MLB soon afterwards.

Unlike Grant Desme, he struggled a little coming through the Minors. Despite the gaudy numbers he put up in 2009, Zobrist was always seen as a super-utility player--A great piece on a winning team, but not a cornerstone to build on. Whereas Desme experienced the thrill of being at the top and felt God tug him away, Zobrist felt the dredge of mediocrity and felt God push him on towards greater success.

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed...Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same spirit, and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. -- 1st Corinthians, 12:1,4-6

If we see God calling some of us away from our mediocre jobs, and others on to greater glory in our current fields, does this mean God is inconsistent? No. This means God has personal plans for each of us, and we need to leave our hearts open for that plan to take hold of our actual lives. Both Ben and Grant's choices were huge leaps of faith; Zobrist risked angering his family and losing out on valuable schooling to pursue a pipe dream, and Grant gave up a possibly highly lucrative career to pursue a lifetime of service. We need to trust God that he gave us the gifts he wanted us to have, has put us in a place to either use them or prepare to use them, and will move us to where he wants his glory to be seen. Let's just hope that we're smart enough to realize his voice instead of shutting him out in favor of our own machinations.