In recovery, eradicating our defects of character clears a pathway to peace. The book of James tells us in chapter 5 verse 16, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” Mustering up the courage to look hard at what you’ve done and to take responsibility for it is a vital step in experiencing the true healing power of Jesus Christ. But what if we are not able to recognize our sinful nature for what it is? Until we acknowledge the depths of our brokenness, Jesus’s redemptive work on the cross won’t make sense, thereby rendering it ineffective.
For more than a century, baseball fans and historians have passionately argued their cases for who they believe is that one player who is the best ever; the top of the heap, king of the hill, A-number-one. What avid fan has not enjoyed one of these good, maybe sometimes not-so-healthy debates? There is always so much to consider. Do we go by the old eyeball test and give more value to the ones we saw? Do we value the team players with the World Series rings over the ones with the personal hardware? Do we discount the “bat only” guys like Babe Ruth, who looked as if he could be grilling franks in rightfield in between hitters? One of the criteria that I like to use is how well the player performed in the clutch; when the stakes were highest. For mostly that reason, I will always credit David Ortiz for being time and time again, the true-life version of Roy Hobbs. (And maybe too because this Boston born boy pledges an allegiance to his beloved BoSox!) Because of all the variables involved in evaluating players, the depths of these debates can be endless.
Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels is widely regarded as one of baseball’s greatest all-around players in history, and for excellent reasons. Let’s take a snapshot at his resume, shall we? Trout exploded onto the scene by winning the Rookie of the Year in 2012. Many, including myself, believe that he should have been named Most Valuable Player that season too, but was beat out by Miguel Cabrera. Yes, Cabrera did win the first Triple Crown Award in 45 years in leading the American League in batting average, home runs, and RBI, which enamored the more traditional voters. The more contemporary voters supported Trout because of his superior all-around value based largely on the newer analytical statistics such as Wins Above Replacement (WAR) and On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage (OPS.) (Even though we stat geeks absolutely cringe at the profane notion of adding two percentages together as OPS does. Mathematical blasphemy!) These new measurements were able to take into account Trout’s exceptional base running, fielding, and ability to get on base. They also discounted the value of Cabrera, who, at many times in his career, looked like he too could be running a hot dog stand in the dugout.
Through his age 27 season when most players are just beginning to peak, Trout has already won three American League MVP awards, won seven Silver Slugger awards, and has been an All-Star game participant in each of his eight full seasons. The website baseball-reference.com, the modern-day historical tracker which forced the old 3,000-plus page Baseball Encyclopedia into retirement, uses a formula to compare players throughout history. The closest five players to Trout at age 27 are Mickey Mantle, Frank Robinson, Ken Griffey Jr., Hank Aaron, and the above-mentioned Miguel Cabrera. NTS. (Not Too Shabby!) All are Hall of Famers, except for Cabrera (but who will be shortly after he retires.) And even though many fans feel that Cooperstown’s standards have fallen so low that the once-proud museum should now be called “The Hall of The Very Good” (apologies to Harold Baines,) there is no doubt about whether or not these particular guys belong there. And man, thank goodness I no longer have to lug the latest version of the Baseball Encyclopedia to the beach for my summer reading every year!
So we’ve established that Mike Trout is a pretty good baseball player right? One thing I forgot to mention is that Trout plays a remarkable defense in centerfield, one of the most demanding positions on the diamond. So remarkable in fact, that heading into a game in May of 2019, Trout had not committed an error in more than two years. In the top of the seventh of that May game against Texas, however, Trout kicked a ball in centerfield which allowed the Rangers to score two runs and take the lead. With the Angels still down by that run caused by his error, Trout had a golden opportunity to redeem himself when he came to bat with two outs in the bottom of the ninth while representing the winning run. Arguably the best player on the planet comes to the plate, and he’s highly motivated to atone for the mistake that cost his team the lead. It seemed almost perfect. A real-life Roy Hobbs moment. Thousands of fans were shouting and stomping their feet, confident that the great Mike Trout would come through like he had done many times before. But there was no joy in Anaheim. For the Mighty Trout had struck out.
Games like this go to show that even the very best are flawed and imperfect. If the all-time greats are subject to this kind of failure, what can I expect from myself? As I go through life, I fail to measure up time and time again, hurting myself and letting others down along the way. But my mistakes are not always as obvious to me as that error was to the thousands of eyewitnesses at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. I get blinded by focusing my attention on other people’s wrongdoings and denying my own. My narcissism is as blinding as the sun in right at Wrigley Field. I’m often guilty of playing the condemnation game. I’ll go around trumpeting everyone else’s failures but never mine. During Jesus’s ministry, when the religious leaders asked him if they should lawfully punish the woman caught in the act of adultery as told in John 8:7, he tells them, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” Needless to say, no stones were thrown that day. But I could imagine myself being the only one proudly grabbing a rock and letting it rip. I was all too happy to denounce people when they made mistakes. Jesus wasn’t telling the religious leaders that the woman hadn’t sinned, he was telling them that they should be more concerned about ducking the stones that should be heading in their direction. Paul sums it up perfectly in Romans 2:1 “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.” For me, passing judgment is like walking around with rocks in my pockets, waiting for the opportunity to start chucking them. I pray frequently for God to show me my faults. I love Psalm 139: 23-24. “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
Not only do the superstars like Trout fall short, but they also fail when opportunities of redemption arise. Sometimes I look back at the extent of some of the harm I’ve caused and think that even an attempt at redemption seems futile. What ended up happening is that I’d carry both the failures themselves and the guilt of not being able to undo the damage. It was a double whammy It’s like I’d pack a cinder block and a bowling ball in a knapsack and strap it to my back. Those burdens were the fielding error and the strikeout. But I found my redemption in Christ! He is the ultimate pinch hitter. He bats 1.000. His WAR is infinite! He cannot fail. In my journey in recovering from alcoholism through Jesus’s healing power, I learned that a sincere willingness to make amends to those I’ve harmed is a critical breakthrough step. This process is so important that Jesus tells us that if we are holding a grudge against somebody we are unfit for any type of communion with God. We are blocking ourselves from the Lord’s unlimited redemptive power. We are unable to allow Christ to step into that batter’s box to redeem us. In Matthew 5:23-24, Jesus tells us, “ So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First, be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” By humbling myself before the people I’ve hurt, I’m handing over that heavy knapsack to my Savior. My knees are no longer buckling under the weight.
When Christ redeems us, he covers our defects in the most unbelievably gracious and loving way. Having my sins forgiven opened the pathway to healing. With sin out of the way, I am no longer restricted to seeing only the pitcher’s mound in front of me when I’m at the plate. I can now take in the entire lush, beautiful green outfield. Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:24, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” (Emphasis mine.) Just as voters and debaters look at a baseball player’s weaknesses when making an honest evaluation, God acknowledges our sins. All of our good qualities are not going to excuse what we’ve done to offend Him. As a loving and righteous adjudicator, He will judge us by our sins. The late inning heroics of David “Big Papi” Ortiz don’t wipe away his errors and baserunning blunders. Because He loves us so much but must also judge us righteously, God gave us His one and only Son to alter the score. Christ can change the boxscores of our past! That’s exactly what he did on that cross for me. By dying a brutal death and then conquering the grave by being raised on the third day, Jesus forgave all the lies, the theft, the lust, the anger, the jealousy, the ingratitude, the pride, the self-pity…all of it. Gone! Jesus not only crushes the pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the ninth to win the game but also erases the record of the error I made in the top of the seventh. And he gives me the credit! It’s a double whammy! He does that for me every day. For free. All I have to do is trust in him and whole-heartedly try to turn away from all that sinful nature. It’s my honor and pleasure to do so.
You may be saying to yourself, “Yeah, but it’s not going to be easy just stopping all the sin and bad habits I’ve formed over all these years.” I didn’t imagine it was possible for me either. Some of my addictions were so deep-rooted, I never saw myself as being able to kick them. But an amazing thing happened. Once I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, truly trusted and believed that he is who he says he is, I began to change. The weight of that cinder block and bowling bowl wasn’t just simply removed. It was supplanted by a strength in my mind and heart that I had never felt before. Jesus eliminated the guilt of my iniquities and replaced it with his righteousness and his power. And the totality of his power in me is infinitely more than the weight of the self-condemnation that was making me crack. 2 Corinthians 5:21, commonly called the Great Exchange, says. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” I read this verse and was easily able to understand the change that occurred in me. I became a man of new principles. I live by a new set of rules. I was given the power to defeat the bad habits that had been entrenched in me for years.
When I began my journey in recovery through Christ, I was not entirely aware of my sinful nature. I still looked at sin as action only. But Christ taught me to evaluate my intent; that I need to care about what is in my heart. “You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28) Getting to understand this concept was only possible by getting to know Jesus. The promises of peace and healing for those who love and trust him are endless. I was only able to experience those promises by first acknowledging my mistakes, and then by clearing away the wreckage of my past by seeking the forgiveness of others. It opened up the pathway that led to him. My mind has been freed from the torment of my addictions and hang-ups. Christ is more than happy to come to the plate for me in all situations. I don’t even have to wait for the bottom of the ninth.