A Tale of Two Baseball Leagues

My friend once trained and supervised umpires for two local softball leagues. One league was for church goers. Players, coaches and fans filled seats in area churches. They had Christian bumper stickers on their cars. Christian music dominated their playlists. They prayed publicly before each game. And when the preacher asked them to turn to a text in their Bibles, they knew exactly where to turn.

The other league was for everyone else. Players, coaches and fans were more likely to be skiing at the lake on Sundays rather than singing in the pew. Secular music dominated their playlists. Their bumper stickers advocated social issues. If asked to turn to a text in the Bible, they’d have no idea where to turn.

My friend supervised the umpires he trained by visiting games in each league. The more time he spent at the games, the more discerned a pattern. Players and coaches in the secular league obeyed the rules and treated each other in gracious ways. The fans were courteous and respectful. Players and coaches in the church league bent the rules and treated others with loud voices and pointed fingers. The fans were rude and disrespectful.
Umpires gave thanks when asked to serve in the secular league. They groaned when assigned the church league.

What caused this? Why did all these saints act like such sinners?

I’ve got a theory. And it’s this: Christians and churches have lost their way. We have forgotten the real destination of the Christian journey. We’ve entered the wrong address into our GPS units and are on the way to lots of destinations that are not the way. American churches (especially those that are predominantly white) have fallen for the myths that say our journey is about adopting the correct beliefs or perfecting the right spiritual behaviors. We’ve forgotten that this odyssey is ultimately about just one thing: love–experiencing and expressing love. Especially to people and in ways that exceed our culture’s (spiritual or secular) expectations.

This is why Christians can stomach politicians who express hatred for groups and individuals, as long as they also enact policies requiring the correct behaviors of others. This is why Christians can sing in a pew on Sunday and scream at a player from the stands on Monday. This is why Christians can hold placards proclaiming God’s hatred of this group or that group while at the same time purchasing and reading hosts of books proclaiming God’s love for themselves. We’ve lost our way. We’ve become numb to the truth that “the only thing that matters is faith working through love.” (Gal. 5:6 NET).