Champions for Christ

Who we are as Christians is centered on the person and the presence of Jesus in us. And, He calls us to use what we have in order to serve others - intangible and tangible. In Romans 12, we find some great components of the attitude of the believer toward service:
10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;
11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;
13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

It all stems from the love that we have for Christ - if we love Him, then we will have a passion for service, and that involves ministering to other people.  Philippians 2 talks about putting the needs of other people above our own.  We are first and foremost servants of the Most High God, and He will express Himself through our roles in our family, in the Church, in the workplace, and other capacities in which we are called to serve.

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We can take what God has given to us for the purpose of glorifying God and serving others. 1st Peter chapter 4 offers this reminder:
10 As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
11 If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

The 2022 edition of Major League Baseball's World Series launches tonight in, well, where else, based on recent baseball history?  Houston, where the last World Series game played there featured the Atlanta Braves winning the world championship.

The Astros are back in the Fall Classic, up against yet another team from the National League's Eastern Division, the Philadelphia Phillies, who finished third in the division behind the Braves and Mets as a wild-card team, but have caught lightning in a bottle and taken down two division champions on their way to the Series.  Houston, meanwhile, has won each of its games in its playoff quest so far.

So, as the two teams embark on their quest for a world championship, I want to take a look at two champions for Christ who will be involved in the World Series.

Just a few days ago, Sports Spectrum ran an article about Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto; it said: "The three-time All-Star is one of many Phillies players experiencing the postseason for the first time after he missed out each of the past eight years."

The article relates:

As he’s established himself in the major leagues, Realmuto has also established his foundation on Christ. In a September 2020 appearance on the “Faith on the Field Show,” he said that although he grew up going to church, his personal relationship with Christ didn’t take off until he met his wife, Alexis. Fully committing his life to Christ changed the way he viewed his identity.

“It’s extremely important to me in life to know that the first thing I am … before I’m a father, before I’m a baseball player, the No. 1 thing I am is a follower of Christ,” he said on the podcast.

Realmuto also stated in that podcast: “Especially in today’s day, being able to fall back on that relationship with Christ, if that’s the center of your life, all these problems that you’re going through, all these worries that you have, always seem a lot smaller,” adding, “You can always have faith in Him that He’ll be there with you to get you through that.”

Meanwhile, on the Astros side, there's a pitcher named Framber Valdez who spent his offseason following last year's series involved in building a church - literally.  A USA Today article said:

After a breakout 2021 season, Houston Astros pitcher Framber Valdez is spending the winter making good on a promise to build a church in his hometown in the Dominican Republic.

“I had always asked God to continue helping and blessing me, and in return I would build a church in Guayacanes for Pastor Antonio,’’ Valdez told the MLBPA in a Spanish-language interview.

At age 14, Valdez began attending the church, which was in bad shape and made a promise that he would some day reach the major leagues and help Pastor Antonio.

“Right now, I’m fulfilling this goal. I’m very focused on two things – my career and building this church," Valdez said. 

The website, MLBPlayers.com, reported:

Long before Framber Valdez began focusing on building arm strength and a pitch arsenal, he was obsessed with . . . well . . . building. His mother sold empanadas and juices at her coffee shop and his father ran a construction business in the town of Sabana Grande de Palenque in the Dominican Republic, and young Framber developed a fascination with houses and all the work and foresight that went into creating them from scratch.

He also embraced his Christian faith, and at age 14 he began attending a local church where the motto was “Camino al Cielo’’ (or “Pathway to Heaven”). The church was made of wood, with torn music sheets, ripped chairs and a dirt floor that was moldy from water damage. Amid the squalor, he promised his friend and mentor, Pastor Antonio, that he would one day reach the major leagues and give back to the community in a tangible way.

The article, written before the church's completion, notes, "Valdez conceived the plans and is immersed in every detail -- from columns to doors to the windows...he will have spent about 2 million pesos of his own money (or roughly $100,000) on the project."

Here are two players who provide examples for us about exalting the Lord and using their platform as major league baseball players to testify to God's grace.  They are apparently not baseball players who happen to be Christians, but Christians who play baseball.  There is a difference.  We should not first and foremost seek our identity in our work (although our profession is very important), but to regard ourselves as believers in Christ who identify in Him and exalt Christ and express Him through our work.

I think that these gentlemen can also inspire us to consider how we invest our resources.  One of them is time - serving the Lord and putting Him first.  We should also make sure we are devoting time to our families. We also discover from the Valdez story that he was intent on using his skills and his financial resources to build a church.  We can take what we have been given by God and be devoted to building the Kingdom.