“Next to Religion, baseball has furnished a greater impact on American life than any other institution.”

Herbert Hoover

“Baseball is more than a game to me. It’s a Religion.”

Bill Klem
Spring is officially here. Not because of a date on the calendar, or a temperature on a thermometer. Spring is here because Baseball is officially back. It’s the green grass, red clay and white lines. It’s the crack of a wood bat, the perfectly turned double play, the diving catch in the outfield. It’s running out a routine ground ball, it’s spit, eyeblack, dirty uniforms, and sunflower seeds. But more than that, baseball is an institution, a rite of passage…baseball, in many ways, is a religion.

Consider this: hope. Every spring, cities across America are filled with hope that the home nine might bring home the pennant. If only the manager pushes the right buttons, if the players play hardnosed, fundamental baseball, if the pitcher could just keep his fastballs down in the zone, If the batter would learn to take a pitch off the plate now and again, If the announcer could not mention that the pitcher is carrying a no-hitter into the ninth inning, if the fans would all flip their caps inside out when the team needs a rally, if the umpire could avoid calling the infield fly rule when a ball falls fair deep in the outfield…then we really have a chance this year, this team could really take us to the promised land. Baseball is religion.

Baseball is religion in the same way that any other religion is. In religion, people are filled with hope that if they just pray the right prayers, follow certain steps, avoid certain errors, meet all the requirements, cheer and boo the right people, they might find peace and happiness…they might find the Promised Land. But religion, thankfully, is not the Gospel. Because what happens when your team starts to lose, when someone gets injured, when your best player gets traded, when it’s late summer and you realize your team is 20 games out of first? Reality sets in, and we realize…no one is good enough to save themselves.
The difference is, in Baseball, there is always next year. Win or lose, there is some room for error. You leave the ballpark, feel the bite in the air and wonder if the local football team might have a better shot this year. But in life, there is no promise of next year, so religion just won’t cut it. In life, the last is first and the one with faith like a child inherits the Kingdom of God. So enjoy the hope of spring, and your favorite teams’ chances, but in life, settle for nothing less than the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the one who died, was buried, and rose from the dead for us. Place your faith in him, not luck, chance, effort, or good fortune. Only Jesus can lead you to the Promised Land.

Caleb Land is the director of the Gilmer Christian Learning Center in Ellijay, GA. Find out more about the CLC at www.gilmerclc.org.