The church has often used sports as an outreach tool. Paul Powell was a teenager growing up in Port Arthur, Texas, when he learned that First Baptist Church had a softball team. He began attending and playing, and soon his involvement led to his salvation. He said, “I was willing to take religion to get the recreation. But I found something better than both—I found redemption through Jesus Christ.”
Unfortunately, it has not always worked out as well. In one church I pastored, we had a RA basketball team. I did not go to any of the games, but I assumed everything was going well—until I got a letter from the director of the league. He suggested that I get my basketball team under control. I did my best. A few weeks later, I got another letter from the director of the league. They needed another team to send to the state playoffs. He said, “In the spirit of love and forgiveness, we have decided to send your team.” They got put out in the first game, but at least I didn’t get any more letters.
In another church I pastored, the church had a men’s softball team. I didn’t know much about the team. All I knew was that one nominal church member headed it up. No one else on the team was a church member. One day I asked the head of the team how it was going. He said it was going well. Then he volunteered the following. He said, “Now, preacher, I’ll be honest with you. Sometimes after the games we all go out and drink at a bar near the ballpark, but I’ll tell you this, we always take off our jerseys with the church name on them before we go inside. I said, “I sure do appreciate it.”
Sometimes Christians learn more from secular teams than they learn from church teams. On June 1, Armando Galarraga was pitching against the Cleveland Indians. He had a perfect game going into the ninth inning. There were two outs when the Indians’ Jason Donald hit a ground ball to the right side. Miguel Cabrera fielded it and threw to Galarraga covering first base. First base umpire Jim Joyce called Donald safe, thus ending Galarraga’s bid to become the 21st pitcher in major league history to pitch a perfect game. Replays of the play at first base showed that Joyce had made the wrong call. The throw clearly reached Galarraga before Donald reached the base.
Now, here is what we can learn from this incident. When Joyce saw the replay, Joyce admitted his mistake. He took full responsibility for blowing the call and apologized personally to Galarraga. Galarraga’s response was even more instructive. He said, “I’m sad because everyone knows I pitched a perfect game, but he is just a human being. He came over and apologized. I forgave him, and I gave him a hug. He made a mistake. That is all.” A ballpark can be a place to bear witness to important things—things like taking responsibility for our actions and demonstrating grace and forgiveness.
