Feeling His Pleasure
Feeling His Pleasure
A couple of years ago I was sent a survey that asked: If you could speak with one athlete from the past hundred years, who would it be? If you could ask this athlete only one question, what would you ask?
Lately, I have been asked one question very often, "Why are you attempting a comeback in baseball?" I was a professional baseball player from 1987 through 1996. I pitched for the San Francisco Giants, New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1996 I had my best season in the major leagues, and in 1997 I decided to leave the game. For the past four seasons I have not pitched. Now, in 2001, I am attempting a comeback as a pitcher in professional baseball. [As I write this I am in Nashville, playing AAA for the Pittsburgh Pirates.] So after a four year absence I am back pitching. This is why I am asked "why?" so often.
Before I made a definite decision to pursue pitching again I asked myself the same question many times over. After all, I got out of the game because I thought it would glorify God and would be best for our family. To summarize it in words familiar to you all, I wanted to live a simple, separate and deliberate life. This, I thought, was extremely difficult (if not impossible) as a major league baseball player. I have regularly referred to myself as the antithesis of George Bailey. In It's A Wonderful Life George is constantly attempting to get out of Bedford Falls to travel and see the world. I, on the other hand, was traveling abroad and simply wanted to settle down in a small town and live a quiet life. Both George and I needed to understand, accept and thank God that His ways are profoundly superior to our selfish desires. We know how George learned his lesson; what about me?
My lesson began before I left the game. Toward the end of the 1996 season I met with my manager, Dusty Baker, to tell him of my decision to retire at the end of the year. He called me into his office the next day and asked me if I had prayed about this. I said I had and he asked if God answered my prayer. I said I believed He had. Then Dusty replied, "Did God answer your prayer, or did you answer your prayer?" Over the past four years I have come to the conclusion that I answered my prayer. In other words, I left the game according to my plan and not necessarily God's. [Don't get excited- I am a Calvinist. I know nothing can happen apart from God's immutable will. I think you all know what I mean by "my plan and not necessarily God's."]
My lesson continued as I studied the Scriptures and came to a more biblical understanding of vocation. Like many other Christians heavily influenced by contemporary evangelicalism, I had a poor concept of vocation. That is the concept that unless you are called to be a minister/evangelist/missionary, you just bide your time until the Lord returns. Of course you have to earn a living, and that is why you get a job. The irrefutable evidence that I bought into this was feeling I had to justify any job I had by saying such things as: "it gives me tremendous opportunity to witness." By this I meant the ability to evangelize and/or lead Bible studies. Vocation, however, is more than a job, it's a calling. Whether we are called to be a mother, minister, janitor, teacher, doctor, musician or even an athlete, we are called to exercise dominion and we are being used to advance the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. To paraphrase Abraham Kuyper, "there is not one atom of this universe that Jesus Christ does not have 'MINE' stamped all over it." Our vocation does give us tremendous opportunity to witness, but we should be thinking more along the lines of Titus 2.
Having grown in my understanding of vocation meant I needed to determine if professional baseball was a legitimate calling. As a wise man once told me, "Not every vocation is a legitimate vocation, only those vocations that are legitimate." Is being a professional baseball player legitimate? Obviously I have come to the conclusion that it is or I would not be pitching again. Baseball is a great game in so many ways (unfortunately I cannot go into all the details here), and it can be played and watched in a God-glorifying manner. The fact that not all do so to God's glory is not a reason for rejecting baseball out of hand. If it were, there would be no legitimate vocations. Coming to an understanding of these truths, I have returned to a game I thoroughly enjoy. I believe God has called me to pitch and I will leave this game when He calls me to something else, not when I get tired of certain difficult aspects involved with this vocation.
Finally, I have to acknowledge what is likely the primary motivating factor
for returning to the pitching mound. It is connected with the survey from a
couple of years ago. I answered that survey by saying the one athlete from the
past hundred years I would want to talk to is Eric Liddel (1924 Olympic Gold
Medal Winner in the 400 meters). The question I would ask him is: "Explain
to me more fully what you meant when you said, 'When I run, I feel His [God's]
pleasure." Eric Liddel knew he had been called to the mission field (where
he died), but he also knew God gave him the ability to run. More than that,
when he ran he felt God's pleasure. After becoming a Christian I always sought
to pitch for the glory of God, but I cannot recall ever feeling God's pleasure
when I pitched. God has given me another opportunity to pitch. I pray that this
time I will be able to say "When I pitch, I feel His pleasure." I
also pray that all God's children would feel His pleasure as they fulfill their
calling in life.