Take Me Out-...Were You Ever In?

“Bullfight critics row on row
Crowd the enormous plaza full,
But only one is there who knows,
And he is the one who fights the bull.”


I went to a baseball game a while back and participated in all those traditions of the great American pastime: soft pretzels, hard seats and loud hecklers. We listened to a man seated behind our group shout commands and comments to the batter, the umpire, and most pointedly, to the guy on first (and his name wasn’t “Who”). All evening long this guy gave clear color commentary on what was wrong with the pitching, catching and batting and exactly what should be done to remedy the “problems.” I glanced back at him to see just what this “keeper of all wisdom” looked like and saw a middle-aged guy settled comfortably in his seat with a drink in his hand. Though he was amusing, this gentleman may have been right on some points and, on others, he might have been positively wrong. One could debate many of the things that he said, but one thing was absolutely certain: he was not in the game. Though he was full of energy and full of even more opinion, he wasn’t wearing a jersey, didn’t have a bat or glove, and his name wasn’t called out in any lineup. He was, despite all his posturing, a complaining spectator. Being in the ballpark didn’t mean he was in the game.

I couldn’t help but wonder how many times the same thing happens in church.

It’s not an issue that has appeared only recently. James makes it clear that the problem of complaining has been in the church for a long time, “Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!” (5:9). We are reminded elsewhere “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Phil. 2:14,15).
Our attitude will influence how, and if, we shine as “lights in the world.” That’s a weighty responsibility, but a responsibility that we must understand if we are really “in the game.” We may share opinions to further the team’s progress, and we may speak candidly, and yes, passionately in certain instances and in the appropriate places, but love for Christ and His Church must govern us. Just being in the ballpark didn’t mean that guy was in the game; just being Christians, regardless of the opinions we might state, doesn’t mean that we’re actively participating in the Body of Christ.

If you are in the game, support the team.
If you aren’t in the game, there’s a place on the team for you…but it’s not in the bleachers.

Dustin C. George
Minister to Single Adults
www.sevierheights.org