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Thursday, June 02, 2005
The baseball team at my high school was serious about the game. It wasn't a pasttime at all...it was very serious business.
The team started training in August before school started. It was mainly stretching and some light work on the track. Some short distance running and some sprints. It got serious after Labor Day.
For those that didn't play another fall sport there was a special class called "off-season baseball" so you could get in shape for the spring. "Off-season baseball" was a term for "run with the cross country team." The cross country team at our school had a state championship to their credit, too. So training with them was no walk in the park. It was a lot of LONG runs TO the park, followed by a lot of LONG runs IN the park, followed by a lot of LONG runs back to school FROM the park. They were serious about getting mileage, and the baseball players were running the same miles...just slower.
Sprinkled in the mix were "voluntary" extra workouts three times a week for pitchers and catchers. They would throw every single day, and since we had more pitchers than catchers, a lot of "position players" would help out with the catching duties.
In addition, there were "voluntary" weight training sessions three days a week in the morning before the cross country running.
The team worked on getting faster.
The team worked on getting more flexible.
The team worked on getting stronger.
The team worked on endurance.
The team worked on skills.
Then, before the season started, the team would travel on a bus to St. Petersburg, Florida and spend one full week (Spring Break) getting up at 6AM and going until 6PM working on the baseball aspect of the deal. They would hit. They would work on defensive skills. They would work on special situations like "run downs" or "bunts" or "pick off plays"...anything that MIGHT come up in a game. They played college teams loaded with players better than they were with better pitching and hitting than they'd see during the season.
All before the regular season started.
But think about why they might do this. Isn't baseball a game played at leisurely paces? Isn't there a lot of standing or bench riding (the team, after all, comes directly to the bench at the end of each inning, where only one batter can play at a time)? You don't have to be in cross country shape to play it, right?
They did it because they wanted to win championships. City. County. State. National. Didn't matter. They wanted to win it all at every possible level...and the discipline of learning the defensive and offensive skills, as well as the "situational" stuff, would have a payoff over a 40-game schedule...and about 100 or so at bats for each player. It would give them a competitive edge over teams that didn't do those things.
So, spring break ski trips would have to wait. You might have to go to a later movie with friends. Sometimes you didn't have time for a part-time job for extra cash. Sacrifice and discipline, it was hoped, would have a pay off of some type later.
Some years it did. Some it didn't. But it really seemed to matter back then.
And what's peculiar is the Bible's perspective on that type of training:
"On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. Prescribe and teach these things."
All that exercise was good. But the Bible describes it as having "little profit." Even if a state championship was at the end of all that hard work, it was still of little gain in the big picture of life.
Godlines, or "God-like-ness" is good for everything. There's a way to do every thing that you do in a way that "looks" like God. You can play baseball or go to church or shop or dance or go on mission trips in ways that look like God.
And there are results of this, too: It gives "promise" for this life. In other words, there are direct benefits to you that take place here and now. So, for example, let's say that you shop in a way that honors God...that means you wouldn't steal the merchandise...which means you wouldn't go to jail. Or maybe it means you'd grab the merchandise on sale in a day or two, which would be a good steward of the money God gives you...and save you a few bucks today.
And there's also promise in the life to come. There will be an afterlife, and believers will get "rewards" for their behavior here.
And don't even get me started on the benefits of having a meaningful relationship with God in the here and now against "normal life" for those that don't know Him.
The reason we should do those things we know we should in order to grow closer to God (read the Word, pray, spiritual disciplines, fellowship with other believers, etc.) is because our God is alive and he set us apart specifically for this purpose.
So, today, I'll ask you: What is so hard about disciplining yourself for spiritual growth? What excuses do we tend to use for not doing them? Do you think we ignore the benefits in making our decisions of what to do each day?
Brent 4:18 AM
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