Yesterday Opening Day.

We’ll forget the fact that three games had been played before yesterday. Thursday was the day baseball fans traditionally point to as the “true” beginning of the season. Opening Day is and has always been about smelling the grass, reliving childhood memories, and believing that your team can win it all – even if you are a Cubs fan.

Yesterday, I attended my first Opening Day. A good friend and I went to Cincinnati for the Reds’ opening tilt against the struggling Marlins. (It’s odd to say that the Marlins are struggling, but through two games this season they have already given up more than 20 hits to the Cardinals and Reds.) Being in the stands allows you to experience all that Opening Day has to offer. It is a very traditional and special time in the life of sports fans, even if the temperatures were a little too cold for my desire in the shade. (Yes, I should have worn a coat.)

As a pastor and a baseball fan I cannot help but notice how baseball and the church are very similar. Of course, I’m not proposing we worship the game of baseball. That would be foolish and against true worship of the Triune God. Yet, there are some characteristics that both share which, I believe, helps us to understand the church as both an institution and a movement. Continue reading “Baseball and the Church Are Quite Similar”