baseball. its kind of like religion. and its kind of more like religion than religion is. i’ll explain.

now that the yankees and the phillies are in the world series, its been really interesting here in Central New Jersey (yes it does exist). As I walked my dog this morning, there were signs in windows, “go phillies!” At work, everyone talked about it. Two brothers came in, one wearing a phillies jersey, the other wearing a yankees jersey.

I find it interesting, that my parents spent last night clapping and whooping and hollering in delight at a band of grown men in tight pants swinging sticks at balls. (nothing against baseball) they clapped and clapped and their hearts were captured by every pitch, every swing, every catch. and yet, its just some guys, getting paid WAY too much, to play a game. How come my parents, when confronted with faith, pale and become quiet? Why doesn’t the fact that Jesus came to bring life (eternal life!) and a chance to be with the God who created everything, who created them, loves us with an unending passion– bring that sort of joy, instead a sour face and listless, “well that’s good for you”? Why?

Why is it that baseball brings out people’s allegiances, the way ash wednesday does? (on ash wednesday, you find out who all the religious people are, because their foreheads are marked with an ash cross, if they were religious enough to go church that day). Suddenly, you see who the Phillies and Yankees fans are, because they wear the jerseys, and earrings, and all sorts of fan gear. They hang up posters in their windows so everyone knows who they support, who they believe in, to win the games, who they feel to be superior to all others.

And somehow, everyone’s okay with that! Sure, there’s friendly rivalry, and some people might get a little annoying with their fanaticism, but at the end of the day, both teams’ fans are respected by the others’. Two brothers can stand in line together for coffee with opposing jerseys on, and can still get along. You can say you’re a fan, and no one turns you away, or says you’re weird, or asks you to stop pushing their team on you. No one finds it offensive that you voice your opinion of your favorite team from your window or shopfront or with what you wear. No one asks you to take down the posters or stop wearing the jerseys or take the sticker off your car because it bothers them.

What if religion was like that? What if everyone was so jovial about faith in God? What if Christians wore their faith on their shirts and had it on the tips of their tongues? What if God was the topic at the coffee shop, at the checkout counter, and the bank? What if people were actively engaged in their faith, so that they could easily say, “so how bout church on sunday?” instead of “so how bout that game last night?” What if families spent their nights together reading and learning about how exciting God was? What if we cheered like we do at sports, about what God was doing in the world?

“People in Philly, it seems like it doesn’t matter if sports fans or not, they know what’s going on,”

“POWER AND GLORY” trumpeted the front page headline in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

And why can’t Christians have as much confidence, knowing that victory is already won? The Phillies fans do:

“it seemed like overconfident fans were already planning a victory parade.”

Well I can tell you one thing; it wouldn’t go over well. The Christians would be told to shove it, to shut up, to stop “pushing their Bible in people’s faces”. And so yeah, I don’t wonder why people don’t cheer like at sporting events, or bring up God like the weather in public places.

Because faith is “personal”. Therefore we shouldn’t bring it up, unless we are sure that the people around us believe it too. Is that logical?? A Phillies fan, who eats, sleeps, and breathes the team, only has that on his mind the day after a great game. It comes up naturally, bubbling out of him, because he can’t help but be excited and proud of “his” team. In the same way, a Christian eats, sleeps and breathes faith, because its his identity. Its all of who he is, and so naturally, the things God’s doing in his life, the things he’s learning, should bubble up. Yet that is seen as being a fanatic, or a bible thumper, or just plain old offensive. What if I went up to a Yankees fan and said, “please stop talking to me about the Yankees, because I don’t believe they should win the world series”. No, that would be ridiculous. Maybe I really don’t think the yankees stand a chance, but i’m not going to make the other person shut up or leave me alone. I’ll politely listen to their reasons, or their apologies for the players who didn’t do as well as they should have, and that will be that.

i just think its odd how pointless little things in life, and not just baseball, are totally okay to flaunt. and yet faith, which should be the most important thing to us since it drives our being, it relates to our creator, and how we function in our daily lives, is totally taboo.

so, hey religion, i wish you were more like baseball. baseball is exciting, it unites people, and its a topic that everyone seems to enjoy talking about, even if they aren’t a really big fan.

and hey baseball, i wish you would be less like a religion. stop consuming so much time and energy from people.

and hey God, show some more people how great You are, how captivating You are, and how much we need You.