Who's on first?

One of the best things about my short break is getting to take in a lot of baseball. Since the stations up here don't carry many Braves games, I've had to take more drastic measures to get my fix. After going to a Chattanooga Lookouts game and a quick trip to Atlanta, I get to taken out to the old ballgame again this weekend in Cincinnati with my family! This is all pretty exciting for a baseball junkie like myself. Even though it has been a subpar season for a Braves fan, I'm still pretty pumped about getting to watch them play. The season has had its moments, one of which is happening on and off the field...

I read something pretty interesting in the Atlanta papers and there was a lot of buzz in the city about their Faith Day a week ago. After the game and everyone exited the stadium, they allowed people back in for a concert and message by John Smoltz. (my favorite player by the way) Smoltz shared about how he became a Christian and how God has a hand in everything he does, including pitching baseball. As you might expect there was considerable uproar over this event. I read the articles of several bashing Smoltz for his controversial move. While some arguments were a little more coherent than others, the one that was the most prominent and the most telling to me went something like this... It is fine to believe in Christ but just don't let it affect what you do on the baseball field. Don't be so caught up in your faith that you share it with others at every turn, this is baseball for crying out loud not church!

I think this is illogical at best and a telling sign of what faith means to the masses. Tolerance is triumphed until it opens the wrong doors and faith is welcomed as long as it doesn't really mean anything to you. If John Smoltz, or any other person who has ever professed to follow Jesus Christ, believes that a man who claimed to be the Son of God was crucified for our sins and was risen from the dead, he would be a fool to not seek every opportunity to share and live out that message... the gospel. We don't flaunt it, but neither can we ignore it. Expressing faith in everyday life goes beyond pointing toward the heavens after hitting a homerun or scoring a touchdown. It means much more than having a gold cross bounce around your neck as you run around the basepaths. Yes it isn't "church", and maybe that's the problem. We are called to live and breathe this truth outside a worship building, behind a desk, driving down the road, and even on a pitching mound.