Serving God and Baseball

      I recently heard someone relate baseball to serving God and was shocked at the parallels.

      In baseball, everyone who wants to score starts at the same place and has the same goal—Home plate. According to Matthew 25:14-30, we are all starting at the same place and all have the same goal. The one talent man certainly had less ability, but he still had the same starting place and goal. His job was to use what he was given to get around the bases and score just like the other two.

      As you get better at baseball, the challenge to get around the bases is greater, the distances are farther, but you still start at home plate. Nobody gets so good at baseball that they are allowed to bat from first or second base. That is also true with serving God. In the Parable of the Talents mentioned above, the five talent man had more challenges and greater responsibility than the one talent man. But he was still starting at home plate. He had to do his best with what he was given.

      In baseball, sometimes you hit home runs and sometimes you strike out. The same is true with serving God. Let’s face it, on a very practical level, we all know we have had days when our guard was up, we overcame temptation and we knocked a home run. But we have had other days when we let our guard down, we indulged in selfishness and committed sins. I am not justifying that, I am simply saying we have all been there (I John 1:8).

      In baseball, even if your last at bat was a strike out, you are now getting a fresh start. When we strike out in God’s service, He has said that we can confess our sins to Him and He will forgive us (I John 1:9). We get a fresh start. We need to make the most of what is going on right now and not be bogged down with what we did in the past (Philippians 3:13).

      In baseball, if you miss a base, you get called out. You don’t get to skip bases and expect things to be alright. It is the same in serving God. He expressed this principle in Galatians 6:7. We reap what we sow. We cannot skip steps, disregarding God’s patterns and expect everything to be alright.

      In baseball, it typically takes teamwork to score. You may hit a homerun every once in a while. But usually the batter makes it to a base and someone else has to bat him in. In serving God, it is the same. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 explains the benefits of teamwork in life. We will score a lot more often when we rely on others to help us than when we are constantly trying to swing for the stands and make it on our own.

      Perhaps there are other comparisons. But I know one great contrast. If we do really well at baseball, the most we can do is win the World Series. But when we serve God well, we gain heaven. Let’s press for the goal (Philippians 3:14).

Edwin L. Crozier