So long Bomba Squad, rally squirrel, and the incredible Minnesota Twin’s 2019 baseball season. The word disappointed would not quite sum up my feelings today after the Twins ended their playoff push with three straight losses to the terrible, awful, and dare I say evil New York Yankees.
The truth is, the Yankees are an incredible baseball team, I just have a hard time allowing myself to admit that through my burning hatred of that particular ball club. I’m not exaggerating either when I say…
Normally when I watch a baseball game I really enjoy appreciating what makes an opposing team so good, but not with the Yankees. I have too much hatred in my heart to appreciate anything about the Bronx Bombers.
At least that’s how I felt until I saw a heartfelt post on social media by a friend this morning. My friend Joe was born and raised in New Jersey and is a die hard New York Yankees fan. Joe shared a picture of himself, his son, and his dad at Yankee stadium some years ago before his father passed away. No gloating, no terrible comments about the Twins, just a son remembering a special moment with his dad who is no longer here.
It was in that moment that all hatred for the New York Yankees vanished and I remembered why I love the game of baseball so much in the first place. It’s a kid’s game. A game fathers and sons have been playing and sharing for generations. Mothers and daughters have been sharing it too and I think that’s only going to increase as the sport moves forward. Special memories with family and loved ones have been created around the game of baseball for well over a century and that’s not going to change anytime soon. I suddenly remembered what unites all baseball fans, regardless of their favorite team, and I was quickly aware of how exhausted I was by focusing on what divides us instead, especially over the last three Twin’s games.
As a culture, we are constantly being bombarded with what divides us. What divides our world, our country, and our churches, but what about all that unites us? How about our desire to be valued, loved, and to be seen as worthy in this life? How about our desire to take care of our families and raise children who won’t go astray? How about our desire to make a difference in this tired and broken old world?
How about Jesus Christ?
No, not everyone believes in Him, follows Him, is saved by Him, but everyone is affected by him. In fact, you could say the whole world spins on the axis that is Jesus Christ. Everyone will face a singular and pivotal question in their life… Will you accept and believe in the Son of God, and his life saving message and sacrifice?
The world seems a lot more simple and profound when gazing through the Christ lens. It’s not about sides or teams, it’s about souls being saved. We will all have different thoughts, opinions, theology, interpretations even, but the gospel of Jesus Christ unites us all, and will affect us all, especially at the end of this life.