Who Wins?

The baseball game was like none I have seen before. The home team loaned some players to the visiting team just so everyone could play. When a player hit the ball, everyone on both teams cheered. When the player in the field caught it, everyone cheered again. It was almost impossible to tell who was cheering for which team. I’m not even sure anyone knew who was winning and who was losing?

The rules were totally wacky. Three outs did not mean the other team came up to bat. That didn’t happen until everybody got a turn to hit, which of course, everybody did because three strikes did not mean a player was out. Three strikes just meant someone would set the ball up on a tee where the player could keep swinging until he or she – yes the boys and girls played together on the same team – got a hit. Once the player hit the ball, they would run to first base. The first baseman might make the play and everyone would congratulate him, but the runner was never out. He was pretty much guaranteed a chance to run the bases and make it to home plate.

Obviously, the coaches didn’t know what they were doing. They weren’t playing by the rules. They were helping the other team and cheering for everyone in the game. They were letting everyone play. Everyone was learning. Everyone was having fun, but this just wasn’t right. Where were the winners and losers? How would we know who was the best and who was the worst? How would we know who to give the trophy to?

It was one of the best baseball games I have ever been to, and it was church league T-Ball at Duluth First Baptist. I know some of the more competitive folks may be saying, “Why play the game if you aren’t going to play right and keep score?” I say, there is already too much “score keeping” going on in this world, and especially in the church. If there is any place where the mature should be helping the young; if there is any place where everyone gets in the game; if there is any place where we encourage those with three strikes to keep on swinging; it ought to be the church. Remember the goal. It’s not to beat the other team, but to get everybody across home plate.

See 1 Corinthians chapter 3