Hunter Pence & Christians

A few days ago I was watching the Atlanta Braves play the San Francisco Giants. As the batter approached the plate, the announcers say,

And here is Hunter Pence. You talk about a different type of player than most major leaguers!

That caught my ear. Why would someone make such a bold statement like that. Was he the best player in the majors? Did the Giants win every game that he played in? Did he lead the majors in home runs, RBI’s, triples, doubles and singles?

Did he catch everything that came to him in the outfield? Was he able to beat the other team just by himself?

Of course not. In fact, he does not lead the league in any of the above mentioned categories. Nor would he be able to beat a team all by him.

So, what made the announce say that he was just a different type of player than most major leaguers?

It is a very simple word: PASSION!

If you have ever watched Hunter Pence play, you know that he loves, and I mean loves, the game of baseball. He hustles on every play and he gives his 100% best every time he steps foot on the field. His passion for the game is so much so that it overflows onto the field and people can see a difference in him.

My pastor is currently going through a series on the book of Revelation and I could not help but recall the verse in Revelation 2:4 that says, “but I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first”. Paul was talking to the church at Ephesus and had just commended them for being a serving church, a sacrificial church, a steadfast church and a suffering church.

Warren Wiersbe says the following about the church of Ephesus,

No matter how you examine this congregation, you conclude that it is just about perfect. However, the One among the lampstands saw into their hearts, and HE had a different diagnosis from ours.

This “perfect” church on the outside had lost its “first love” for Christ! They had lost their passion for Christ. They were just going through the motions. Wiersbe says that “first love” can be described as,

…the devotion to Christ that so often characterizes the new believer: fervent, personal, uninhibited, excited and openly displayed.

Are you just going through the motions of being a Christian?

You may never get the chance to walk up to a batters box and be introduced on TV. You may never get the chance for someone to announce to a huge viewing audience that “this is one player that is just different”. But, how do the people around you see you? Do they see you as just another church person who is doing what they are supposed to be doing (outward appearance) or do they see something that makes them say, “Wow, something is different with that person!”.

As Christians, we should be, not just look, different from this world!

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. – II Peter 2:9