Hitting Home Runs
When choosing members on the team, were you one of the ones picked first, or last?
When it came to sports, I was always one of the last to be chosen. Before they would pick me, they would pick the strongest, the fastest, the leanest, the most popular. I was none of these.
Because I wasn't fast, I needed more time to make it around the bases in softball, so I set my sights on hitting hard and hitting the ball far.
When I hit the ball, I hit home runs.
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. - 1 Corinthians 1:27-29
Continuing with Paul's letter to the church in Corinth, we encounter one of Paul's classic left-hand compliments.
He tells the followers they are not the best.
Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
Sure, he is being honest, but that honesty can be hurtful.
Is there any consolation in what he tells them, that God chose them to show the wise and strong and powerful that they are nothing?
It reminds me of all those underdog stories, where the weak rise up to win the game in the end. It's David versus Goliath, and if you think about it, it seems to be t he way God works, at least in the stories of The Bible.
I was never in the spotlight. No one put all their hope and faith in me. As a result, I just worked at being the best I could be, never knowing how good I was at anything.
Now, I won't say it as harshly as Paul, but I believe not being one of the best had its advantages.
When we know we are good, we tend to stabilize, to maintain the level we have achieved, rather than to keep pushing to be better.
We also place all our hope on the one thing that makes us a star, and when that fails, we lose our identity.
When we know that there are others out there who are much better than we are, we continue to try to improve. Eventually, if we stick with it, we can become the best, but that isn't the goal. The goal is to survive against enormous competition.
I believe that is the message, to stick with it, never to give up, to shoot for the moon.
Perhaps God's strategy makes sense. He chooses those who are not aware of their abilities, because he knows they will try harder. They are not overly confident, so they work to find a way to make it happen.
Like David, using a sling which he knew well, rather than a sword which he didn't have the strength to carry, we will find a way to get to the goal.
So, if you can't run fast enough to get on base, hit home runs. Then you can walk.
More to come...
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