Proverbs 27:17
When I was in the seventh grade, I played little league baseball in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The name of our team was the Seals. What a name for a baseball team, especially out in the plains of Oklahoma. We were worse than the Bad News Bears, and we intended to prove it. Out of eighteen games, we had lost eighteen games. On the final game, the Bad News Seals pulled together. We smelled victory, and we wanted to win. I had gotten several hits in the game already, but in the final inning, I came up to bat. The pressure was on. I hit the ball deep along the sideline in right field. It was a fair ball. I ran to first. I charged to second. I headed to third. By this time, the right fielder threw the ball to the first baseman. We needed that extra run. It was great to get a single. It was wonderful to get a double. It was fantastic to get a triple, but it was more important to hit a home run.
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With all my might, I raced towards home plate. My parents and brothers were screaming. The Bad News Seals in the dugout were cheering me on, and I made my way towards the hall of fame in the legendary history of the infamous Tulsa Seals. Unfortunately, the first baseman threw the ball to the catcher before I got to home plate. It was too late for me to head back to third. The catcher caught the ball high, and I dived in the catcher's breadbasket. Our WWF (World Wrestling Federation) fans would have been proud of me.
The catcher dropped the ball, and I was scrambling in the whirlwind of dust and dirt to find home plate. The catcher and I were wrestling in the dirt trying to touch home plate first. Luckily, I touched home plate before the catcher did, and I scored my first and last infield home run. I also brought in a couple of runs at the same time.
Folks, making a single, a double, a triple is unbelievably exciting, but nothing can compare with a home run. Yet in the Christian life, too many of us are content to become Christians and stay at first base as a Christian and as a church member only. Too many of us are content to stay at second: to study our Bibles, pray, worship in spirit and truth, and get plugged into a small group. Too few of us discover our spiritual gifts and get involved in ministry at third base. An even smaller percentage of Christians are home run hitters who make it all the way around the bases and come home. At First Baptist Church, my deepest desire is that many of you would get involved in missions and become grand-slam Christians. One of the greatest missions in the church today is to reproduce other Christians, to disciple new believers, and to mentor others and help them cover all the bases.
In The Purpose Driven Church, Rick Warren suggests that the baseball diamond represents the organizational model in the developmental stages of a Christian.1 First base signifies our salvation, baptism, and church membership. Second base represents maturity in Christ through Bible study, prayer, worship, and small group interaction. Third base stands for ministry, where we identify our spiritual gifts and use them to serve, witness, lead, tithe, etc. Finally, homebase is all about missions. Our purpose statement is to fulfill the Great Commission and follow the Great Commandment to love God and our fellow man. As Charles Lowery points out, somehow we have gotten the idea that church is about me and my needs. The church is not the Love Boat but a fishing boat. We have not been called to a picnic, but we have been called to go fishing. We are to be fishers of men and women. We are to mentor and mold others who want to be the best that they can be in the center of God's will.