What Does It Mean to Be a Christian? A Baseball Analogy

On Christians who curse, the easy yoke of God, and getting up when you've been benched.

Here is what I’ve been thinking about this week: Christians who curse.

Rather, I’ve been thinking about all the things we may do that others may frown upon.

This came to my mind when I was talking with someone who I would classify as a more conservative Christian than I am. She said this during our conversation: “Coming into church and worshipping and meeting God isn’t enough. People need to stay and get to know others.”

You may be wondering how we got on this line of conversation.

Well, I was sharing how the church I attend uses a grill to woo people in the door. No, it’s not a sales gimmick; it’s a love thing. They genuinely want people to visit the church and they dangle brisket and pancakes in part to do it.

I think it’s working to a certain extent.

So this woman said that all Christians want to visit around food.

I’ve heard this before.

And it’s not true.

Extreme introverts may not want to.

People with food allergies or eating disorders may not want to.

Her seemingly innocuous statement as to what she believed to be true got me thinking about us — this community of people on substack and in the world who are wrestling with right and wrong and cans and can’ts and lies and truth.

What does it mean to be a Christian? I mused for nearly 24 hours.

Before I attempt to answer this, let me tell you who can indeed follow Jesus.

• People who say bad words sometimes.

• People who lie sometimes.

• People who cheat sometimes.

• People who don’t like to visit with Christians after church.

• People who drink sometimes or smoke sometimes.

• People who are attracted to someone of the same sex.

• People who are confused by their gender and who are trying to figure it out.

• People who are divorced. Or separated.

• People who are bossy. Or pushovers.

• People who don’t fit in. Or feel like they don’t.

• People who aren’t in church.

• People who don’t trust others.

• People who question the Bible.

• People who question Christians.

Let me do a bit of proof-texting. (Yes, that super controversial method of using passages in the Bible to make a point! And yes, people can be Christians and prooftext sometimes!)

God’s Yoke Is Easy and His Burden Is Light!

As this woman was talking, my mind flew to Matthew 11:28-30:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

If you were to do a checklist of the above items, how many would you mark? The expectations Christians (and non-Christians) sometimes (even unknowingly) put on us can be crushing. As someone who has a phobia of big social groups, I don’t want to stay and visit over food after church. That doesn’t make me less of a Christian; it makes me a human who struggles with social situations.

Too often, we are defined by what we don’t do rather than what we do. Or what we do do instead of who we actually are.

Some Christians (not all!) are notoriously good at judging others!

This is how some people may describe themselves: “I follow Jesus.”

But this is what these same people may actually mean: “I am a non-smoking, non-drinking, cisgender heterosexual, once-married, King James-only, church-going, honest, prayerful, faithful, joyful follower of Jesus.”

Sometimes, it seems, “I follow Jesus” isn’t enough.

And we wonder why we struggle with faith so much.

For your reading pleasure, I did a series on this topic related in particular to church. I blogged here on why people keep us out of church, here on theological sticking points we may have, and here on why church might be worth fighting for.

When Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,” He said this because He knew being human was hard. He knew that we would be hurt and judged and that people would point fingers either literally or figuratively and tell us that how we must change.

What Jesus gives to us that sometimes we don’t receive elsewhere is the one thing that all of us need: grace.

He is kind and gentle.

God’s Very Self Is Full of Grace!

Leonard Cohen once wrote,

“How can I begin anything new with all of yesterday in me?”

Yesterday. The feelings of ‘not enough,’ ‘doesn’t fit in,’ ‘hard to handle,’ or ‘messed up,’ can make us doubt we can be real Christians.

My 10-year-old son plays baseball and as he heads into the Spring season, he listens to a song that declares over and over, “Put me in, Coach! I’m ready to play, today!” It makes me smile, and it’s how I imagine God being as all of us sit on the sidelines wondering if we will ever be good enough to play, to be part of His all-star team.

The point is this: We are Christians — we are on the team — simply by wanting to be on the team. We don’t have to be the best, or even that good. The only requirement to being a Christian is that we believe in Jesus and that we know He can make us into the people He wants us to be.

We just have to say yes.

As we have either benched ourselves off the faith team or feel like someone else has benched us, we have a Coach who looks us in the eye and asks, “Are you ready? You’ll be great! I’ll walk you through it.”

This is the gentleness and kindness of God. It’s why He is different from any of us. He doesn’t condemn us for lying sometimes, for struggling, or for no longer being in a marriage that was too hard. He doesn’t wag His finger and tell us that we don’t fit because we wonder and question and sometimes need to work things through. He tends to us.

Isaiah 42:3 reminds us:

“A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.”

He doesn’t tell us why we don’t fit in; He tells us why we do.

God Himself Is the Destination!

To my initial question: What does it mean to be a Christian?

Being a Christian means that you have realized that God loves you deeply and that you really want to — and do — respond in kind.

Everything else — what we do or don’t do — is tangential. Important, yes. But tangential. And when we do wrong, we keep trying. We turn around.

But being a Christian isn’t about what we do. It’s about who we are and who our heart has chosen.

Jesus. It’s about Jesus.

In all of my mulling these past 24 hours, I realize that when all is said and done, the important question is not “What does it mean to be a Christian?” That is a through-question. It’s the one you ask as you move on to bigger things. It’s the pit stop you must go through to reach the more beautiful destination: God Himself.

Because finding faith isn’t about us at all.

It’s about God. Finding faith is about meeting and getting to know this God who loves us deeply, treats us gently, and wishes for us to be who He made us to be.

Finding faith is discovering that we are both human and beloved by the One who made the universe, and everything in it.

My Attempt to Sum This Up

I must end with the baseball analogy! I have benched myself in the past. I had too many big questions. I did too little volunteering. I couldn’t get myself to that women’s group. And then I did and it didn’t seem like people cared. I have lied and cheated. And I have said more than one swear word in my day!

But I am human and beloved by God. And I have seen that God loves me. And I love Him.

Friends, don’t let anyone bench you. And don’t bench yourself!

Look to the Coach.

Are you ready? You’ll be great! He will walk you through it.

Much love to you,

💚 Laurie