Faith In SeasonSample

Positions

Out on the baseball field, there are different positions. You have pitchers, catchers, infielders, and outfielders. Each one has a different role and a different area of responsibility on the diamond. Pitchers throw and catchers catch, infielders throw to first and outfielders run like gazelles to make great plays. Of course, that’s the simplified version. What we have to remember, however, is that while there are different roles, we have a common goal. As Herm Edwards once said, “You play to win the game!” That’s something we can’t forget. 

God gifts us all in different ways. If we get caught up in our position in the Christian life, we risk forgetting our purpose. As 1 Peter 3:18 says, that purpose is to: “…to BRING YOU TO GOD” (my emphasis).

Jesus came to remove the obstacles that separate us from God. He came to right the relationship between God and us. And when Jesus gave us the charge in Matthew 28:19 (“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”) He wanted to reinforce that playing our positions well and doing our part is beneficial but the purpose is bringing people back to God. As John Piper said, “Life is not about getting people to heaven, but getting people to God.”

As you perform your tasks today, be diligent and use the talents you have been given. Mistakes and frustrations will come, and we can easily allow our attention to turn inward, forgetting that the purpose is to win the game. Winning in the game of life means giving yourself and others a chance to reencounter or encounter for the first time our living God through the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus. 

That’s the joy of Ephesians 2:8: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”