For the Love and the Game

I have a confession: for most of my life, I was not a baseball fan. I found it incredibly boring, especially on TV.  Even the draw of nostalgia couldn’t overcome the exhaustion of infinite seasons, outsized egos, scandals and eight-figure paychecks.

Then, my kid fell in love with the game and that changed everything. Now, I delight in playing catch with him until it’s dark. I love watching games while he provides an enthusiastic play-by-play, exploring the history of heroes like Roberto Clemente together, and seeing him and his buddies build skills and friendships. I especially cherish the tender conversations on the way home from games that didn’t end the way he hoped. Even though I still dislike those aspects of the game previously mentioned, my love for him has overshadowed those issues. I have learned to love baseball. Today, when I think about the sport, I think about the quality time it provides for us to talk, learn, share, and grow. It’s beautiful how love transforms things.

What does any of this have to do with the Gospel? Maybe nothing. But to me, it is a reminder of how love, even a shared love of a sport or hobby, builds connection and fosters community. We’ve seen this recently as souls from around the world came together during the Winter Olympics and the World Baseball Classic, and you can feel it as The World Cup approaches. Even within our own Lake Norman community, sports (or clubs, plays, recitals, etc.) often bring together neighbors who might otherwise be separated by divisive politics. It gives people a way to find common ground and engage with "the other."

With so much conflict in the news, it is easy to feel hopeless about the state of humanity. But seeing community built around love - love for our children and, yes, even love for a sport - provides much-needed hope. It is a reminder that before the "fall," we were all created "very good" (Gen 1:31) and that our shared connection is stronger than our differences. Despite a sinful inclination to divide, we all share a divine DNA that connects us in Christ, which is a bond more powerful than what could ever separates us. To be clear, a community built around sports is not the same as one built around the loving, living God, but it offers a mustard seed of hope; a hope that one day "all of them may be one" (John 17:21).