Batter-up

Did I hear what I think I heard?  Did he say those words that disturbed my mind and heart and soul?  Those words shook me.   And then did I just sit there and say nothing?  Even though I wanted to get up and leave and never look back. I did nothing. 

My youngest enjoys playing baseball. He is  one member of a team that had an all-day tournament yesterday. A day full of heat. Boys playing hard and adults mouthing off. What was the reason for the play?  For the boys or for the adults?

And just what is it that we as adults want to show our children?  Is it being right in making a call?  Was he safe or out?  What is more important, having your opinion affirmed or teaching kids fairness and humility?  

And just why do we cheer at a job well done while the opposing team jeers at the same thing?  Seems to me it becomes evidence of the power of good and evil. Both have an agenda and the agenda is very similar. To win. 

The ultimate goal of the game is to win. Or is it?  Is it rather to play the game in such a way as to show your opponents why it is you play?  

“Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,”

Colossians 3:23 NASB

http://bible.com/100/col.3.23.nasb

And did I become as they in sitting back and observing all that was going on with nothing showing different in me?  What would have been the response I should have made when a mom gave evidence of disgust over a well-played move by our team?  And not ten minutes later her son, on the opposing team, was removed from the game with a possible broken bone. 

Oh, dear God in heaven, do we even realize what we do?

And what exactly had the man who set-up tents and fan and food for the team said?  Did the words he spoke line-up with the actions he had taken?  He went above and beyond to provide for the team. But those words. I really hope I heard wrong. Because I didn't say a thing. I didn't ask for clarification. Why didn't I ask for clarification?  Is his church different than mine?  Is the one he worships different from the One I worship?  He talked of his church. 

I am disturbed. By me as much as the words. I did and said nothing. I sat there like some inanimate object and allowed the boys within ear-shot of those words to be influenced by the man that had provided comfort. They look up to him. He has their admiration. He has captured their attention in the provisions. 

“For the lips of an adulteress drip honey And smoother than oil is her speech; But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death, Her steps take hold of Sheol. She does not ponder the path of life; Her ways are unstable, she does not know it.”

Proverbs 5:3-6 NASB

http://bible.com/100/pro.5.3-6.nasb

I pray I heard wrong. I pray the impression I received was wrong. I pray if given another opportunity I will ask for clarification and encourage a different path. 

Will you pray for me that if I ever hear those words or anything else that disturbs so deeply that I will speak truth in the middle of the situation?  That if a person expresses desire to go to hell that I will say something. 

Anything. 

Life-giving words. 

That when an adult, who has the attention of a child, when making the dark road seem glamorous, expresses pleasures for that journey, that I will boldly speak the words necessary at that moment. 

That I will not be a coward but the warrior I rightly am through the blood of Jesus. 

And will you pray for all the boys that play hard?  That they will know the true reason for living. That they will play the game in testimony of God. 

And pray for parents. That we will boldly speak truth and life into our kids. 

And pray for that man and many others like him. For those that may go about doing what appears to be good but falls short in the execution. 

Because unless you are doing whatever it is you do for the glory of God, you (and I) are doing it in vain.