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Baseball has been called “the great American pastime.” As September comes to a close this week, there’s still lots of baseball to watch between now and the last out of the World Series.
Unfortunately, baseball has been tainted in recent years by all the stories of big-name players accused of steroid use. As one sports reporter said, “The estimate of the number of players on steroids in Major League Baseball rises and falls more than the Dow Jones.”
I remember growing up with baseball. Everyone seemed to have a favorite team and a hero. Making a hero out of a baseball player can be risky, however. Listen to how one pastor talked about his favorite player: “My hero was Stan Musial. I looked up to Stan the Man. I do recall a day, though, when his position on the pedestal lowered a bit. On a family vacation to St. Louis, my dad drove by Stan Musial’s restaurant. It was a tavern. I was shocked. My hero sold liquor!”
That story may be dated, but it connects with the modern steroid fiasco. Every baseball player’s reputation is at stake, even the innocent ones. For that boy (now pastor), learning that Stan Musial sold liquor helped introduce him to this adult reality: many baseball heroes drank, and some even sold alcohol. That seems like no big deal these days, I guess. But in the case of steroids, the actions of a few, or many, are casting a negative shadow on all players in the game today.
And the same principle holds true for the church. Christians are often labeled as hypocrites. Unfortunately, a few are. And the few who are hypocrites cast a negative shadow on all the rest of us, and on the Lord himself.
In Matthew 5:48, Jesus said, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (New Revised Standard Version). Quoting the Lord in Leviticus 11:45, Peter wrote, “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16, NSRV). The Lord’s Supper is a good time to think about how we are growing toward perfection and holiness. Though none of us will achieve that level of godliness this side of Heaven, the standard has been set by the Lord himself. And let’s not forget it’s only because of his death that striving for perfection and holiness is even possible.
May all of us strive to be perfect and holy in our behavior. For one thing, it hurts the reputation of our brothers and sisters when we don’t—and the reputation of our “big brother,” too.
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