The Major League Baseball season is now underway, and with it the hopes and dreams of all of us fans whose teams have never won a pennant. My Texas Rangers have never won a World Series since they came into existence. In fact, they have never even won a playoff game.
This could be the year, however. Now, granted the first week has been marked by some pitching problems by the Rangers’ staff. Reminds me of the story about the rookie pitcher who was struggling with his control. After observing his ineptness for several games, the manager said to him, “I’ve figured out your problem. You always lose control at the same point in every game.” The rookie said, “Really? When is that?” The manager said, “Right after the national anthem.”
Of course the challenges that baseball players face these days are different from the ones faced by earlier players. I heard about an umpire who saw several players down on their hands and knees around the pitcher’s mound looking for something. The umpire went out and asked, “What did you lose, a contact?” “No,” one of the players said, “an earring.”
While fashions come and go on the diamond, some things remain the same. One of the things that remains unchanged is the way the plate umpire dresses for every game. He reports for duty wearing a mask, a chest protector, shin guards, and steel-toed shoes. I can’t say that I blame him. He’s only being prudent. When balls that are as hard as rocks are being thrown at you at 90+ mph, umpires need all the protection that they can get.
So do Christians. Paul said (Eph. 6:10-18) that we are up against some tough opponents in the Christian life. Our struggle is “not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” He advises that the only way we can face this kind of opposition is by putting on “the full armor of God.”
Paul outlines the kind of equipment that we need to put on before the game begins: The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.
I never was much of a baseball player. One of the reasons was that when I was at the plate about the only pitcher I ever faced was my brother, and he was as likely to hit me between the ribs with a baseball as he was to throw it over the plate. That made me a little jumpy. If I could only have had some equipment like an umpire I would have done better.
Some protective armor that is needed even more than an umpire’s armor is the Christian’s armor. An umpire is foolish to go behind the plate without his armor, and we are even more foolish to try to live the Christian life without ours.
