Baseball provides a great analogy to the Christian life. First it reminds us that Jesus wants followers not fans. He is not interested in a bunch of “enthusiastic admirers,” but in those who will give their lives in service to Him and His kingdom. In other words, get out of the stands and onto the field. Become a player in the Kingdom game.
Baseball also illustrates the importance of movement. No ball player would get on first and then sit down or walk back to the dugout. The whole point of being on first is to race ahead to second, come around third and, somehow, make it to home plate. Stranded runners who don’t come around to score are the reason teams don’t win games. Once you have runners on base the team has to work together to bring them home.
Finally, while individual effort is vital, baseball is a team sport. One exceptional athlete could never win the world series. A winning team needs several starting pitchers along with an array of relief pitchers, plus multiple position players, each with one or two subs for different situations. And a successful team has a committed group of coaches and administrators who support the players on the field, helping them improve and play at their best.
At Oakwood, we use a baseball diamond as our discipleship pathway.
The cross is at the center to make it clear that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is our focus and motivation. We don’t run the bases in order to be saved but because we are saved. Jesus is the One who gets us into the game and the One who empowers us to love God, grow, serve and reach out. It is gratitude and joy in Jesus that fuels us. It is the glory of God that inspires us. We don’t make disciples to make a name for ourselves but to magnify the glory of Jesus’ name.
The four bases represent the pathway for every believer. All who follow Jesus need to pursue these four commitments and grow in them throughout our lives.
- We love God with all we are through personal disciplines like Bible reading, prayer, Bible memorization and application. We also love God corporately by committing to regular worship in a local church.
- All believers are called to grow toward maturity in Christ – toward His righteousness and perfection. We will not attain this goal in this life, but through the process of sanctification the Holy Spirit continually chips away at us, helping us increasingly reflect the glory of our Savior. Just as God is relational in His very being (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), so we are all wired for community – we need other believers to encourage and challenge us. Believers grow best when well connected with other followers of Jesus!
- Our commitment to Jesus moves us to serve the Church for which He gave His life. He set the example of humble, self-sacrificing ministry and explicitly commanded His disciples to love one another in that same way. Of course all believers should serve as a pattern of life – at home, at work, in our own neighborhoods – but it is essential that every believer identify and exercise his or her spiritual gifts and apply our passions to build up our local church!
- The cycle is not complete until we are regularly and lovingly reaching out to others with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. How can those who believe such life-changing Good News keep it to ourselves? We have been sent out as witnesses for Jesus to join Him in His work of gathering worshipers from all nations and turning them into kingdom workers. Again, we apply this in our personal lives in our own circles of influence and we also partner together as a church to invite people to worship with us and cooperate for service and evangelism in ways we could not do as well individually.
And just as baseball continues, so discipleship never stops. Just because you bring one runner home doesn’t mean the game is over! You get another runner on base and do all you can to bring him or her home as well! Once you become proficient in playing the game, you become a coach to help others improve their skills.
The same should be true in the church. As you have learned to love God, grow in Christ, serve the church and reach the world, that is what you are called to share with others – that is what disciplemaking looks like! What God has done IN you is what he wants to do THROUGH you.
The inner line around the baseball diamond represents the pathway for individual believers. The outer line represents the role of coaches or disciplemakers. The church grows on those twin tracks – discipleship and leadership development. We need disciples running the bases and we need coaches helping them run. All of us are simultaneously players and coaches.
Are you in the game? Are you moving around the bases? Or have you gotten stuck somewhere? Are you actively coaching one or two others, helping them become more joyful, fruitful followers of Jesus?
This Sunday (August 30) is an opportunity for all of us to slow down and reflect on the game we are playing. We will use the baseball diamond as a tool for self-evaluation and intentional growth. Handouts will be available in the worship center and in the YouVersion app so each of us can make some notes about what we are doing well and areas we need to push a little harder. For starters, read over the Scripture passages below and invite the Holy Spirit to encourage you and show you one or two key ways you can improve your game this year!
FIRST BASE – LOVE GOD
“And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.'”
Matthew 22:37-38
SECOND BASE – GROW IN CHRIST
“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:12-14
THIRD BASE – SERVE THE CHURCH
“When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, ‘Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.'”
John 13:12-15
HOME PLATE – REACH THE WORLD
“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”
Matthew 28:18-20