Posted on 05/16/2007 6:22:14 PM PDT by xzins
Yankees fans are human, after all. They appreciate a job well done. But woe to that third-baseman who falls short -- perhaps way short, in fans' eyes -- of expectations. Aren't you glad that God's not human?
Alex Rodriguez is finally gettin' some love from Yankees fans. He should be. The $252 million man was leading the American League in home runs, RBIs and was second in batting through April 25. He's been far and away the most dominating player in the season's first month.
Here's what some folks are saying about him:
"A-Rod is having an April for the ages." -- New York Times
"A-Rod leads the big leagues in homers, RBIs, and Standing Ovations." -- Gene Wojciechowski, ESPN.com
"[H]e's simply ridiculous at the plate right now." -- Message board poster
It's quite a contrast from a year ago, when A-Rod "only" hit .290 with 35 home runs and 121 RBIs. He did have some bad streaks and struggled in the field, and he heard more boos than George W. Bush in a stadium full of Cindy Sheehan clones.
A sampling of what could be found on message boards in 2006:
"A-Rod stinks ..."
"A-Rod must go!"
"I find it harder to root for this team with A-Rod on it."
Well, Yankees fans are cheering their heads off for Rodriguez now, even if many of them are waiting for him to return to 2006 form. This once again proves that New York fans are matched in their fickleness only by Philadelphia fans.
Now, I understand A-Rod's unpopularity last year went a little deeper than just his production. He said some things that made him look arrogant, and he took some shots at the beloved Derek Jeter, his teammate and one-time best friend.
Nevertheless, I found fans' negativity toward Rodriguez curious, disturbing even. It's not like the guy wasn't trying, but he was becoming a head case. When someone gets that way, it's better to encourage him and ease the pressure on him as much as possible, instead of ripping him apart and exacerbating his confidence problem.
Loyalty ain't what it used to be. Part of that is because players have become so transient -- A-Rod's on his third team -- that fans find it hard to become attached to the new hot-shot in town. Loyalty to team no longer translates into loyalty for every player.
Whatever the reason for wavering loyalty, it's not really a surprising phenomenon. Humans support other humans that please them, whether it's politicians, pastors, athletes or spouses. But when expectations aren't met, a rift can quickly occur, and adoration is replaced by animus.
It's fascinating how one's fortunes can so control one's attitude toward the cause of those fortunes. Look how people treat God. When life's great, so is God. When life's bad, where is He? That's a common mistake people make when dealing with God: defining Him by what happens to us. He gets blamed for an awful lot of things by people who don't understand the effect sinfulness has on all of humanity.
What have you done for me lately, God? Even Christians ask that, channeling the ancient Israelites. Do we not see the bigger picture, remembering what He has done and believing He will keep His promises?
Do we think He's not in control?
Conversely, Christians too often think that God supports us only when we're "good." Performance-based faith is no faith at all, because central to the Christian faith is the belief that once saved, we can do nothing to lose God's favor, nor can we earn our way into His kingdom. God isn't alternately booing and cheering us. How disconcerting would that be?
Even A-Rod couldn't stand up to that.
Brad Locke (checkswinger@gmail.com) is a sports journalist in Tupelo, Mississippi.
“performance based faith is no faith at all”
I learned that early on as a Red Sox fan. No matter how much money they get, no matter what their stats look like before the All Star break, no matter where the team is on September 1, they will let you down and break your heart by October 1. You have to love them just because they are the only game in town.
My Cincy Reds are awful this year.
I heard a sports broadcaster say the other day, “they have only a few more games to show that we can ‘give them our hearts’ this year.”
What if God were like that?
Would Nancy and the Democrats support Israel if it attacked Iran’s enrichment complexes?
?
Would God desert His friends?
lol. As a Cubs fan, I sympathize.
Amen. A God who is not in control, as Warfield said, would be an immoral God.
Even worse would have happened, indeed, than the destruction of the universe. God would have ceased to be God in a deeper sense than that he would have ceased to be the Lord and Ruler of the world. He would have ceased to be a moral being. It is an immoral act to make a thing that we cannot or will not control. The only justification for making anything is that we both can and will control it. If a man should manufacture a quantity of an unstable high-explosive in the corridors of an orphan asylum, and when the stuff went off should seek to excuse himself by saying that he could not control it, no one would count his excuse valid. What right had he to manufacture it, we should say, unless he could control it? He relieves himself of none of the responsibility for the havoc wrought, by pleading inability to control his creation. To suppose that God has made a universe-or even a single being-the control of which he renounces, is to accuse him of similar immorality. What right has he to make it, if he cannot or will not control it? It is not a moral act to perpetrate chaos. We have not only dethroned God; we have demoralized him...""...I say that it is more accurate to say that we will not admit that we are controlled. For we are controlled, whether we admit it or not. To imagine that we are not controlled is to imagine that there is no God. For when we say God, we say control. If a single creature which God has made has escaped beyond his control, at the moment that he has done so he has abolished God. A God who could or would make a creature whom he could not or would not control, is no God. The moment he should make such a creature he would, of course, abdicate his throne. The universe he had created would have ceased to be his universe; or rather it would cease to exist-for the universe is held together only by the control of God.
The problem is people want to feel that God is near. If they don’t feel Him, He’s not near.
I don’t want to trust my feelings. I’ll trust God is near because that what He promises.
I like the post, E, but it doesn’t address the truth that someone can control events even when subordinates rebel. In short, God is omnipotent whether I follow Him or not.
To the point of whether God created everything under His control, the answer is “yes, He did.”
Fickle Christians of any age might learn a few things from our age.
I think the worst thing so many modern Christians do is give away only half their heart to the Lord. Who knows who gets the other half...
The idea of “idolatry” doesn’t really ring true for me when you hear arguments worrying to death the notion that “movies are idols,” “cars are idols,” “success is an idol.” It seems that at some point idols are idols.
However, the degree of self-focus in our culture makes one readily agree that today’s Christians are weak. And that is because they are so weakly committed to the Lord.
Maybe they’re just poorly led, though.
“I think the worst thing so many modern Christians do is give away only half their heart to the Lord”
Bohhoeffer, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.”
K and I were watching “Twelve O’Clock High” the other day and in one scene Gregory Peck has just taken over a B-17 squadron that has been suffering major losses and defections at the beginning of the U.S.’s entrance into the war. His statement to the airmen at the first meeting was to the effect he recognizes one of their problems. They are concerned about surviving the bombing runs and getting back to the base in one piece. So he says to the 20 year olds, you have lived long enough, from this moment on consider yourselves dead, now you don’t have that to worry about and can focus all your attention on the mission.
We can learn from that.
Great excerpt...12 O’Clock High.
Is it the weakness of the church through the ages that most are half-hearted, or is this something that the 20th & 21st century church has honed to a fine skill?
Part of me thinks that very few take ANYTHING seriously in our day. They just slide along in a wake-eat-sleep mode.
“Would that you were hot or cold, but because you are lukewarm, I will spew you out of my mouth.”
However, the degree of self-focus in our culture makes one readily agree that today's Christians are weak. And that is because they are so weakly committed to the Lord.
You make a good point. And all we can speak from is our own experience. My experience is that when my eyes and heart were turned toward an understanding that everything was by His hand, I actually wanted to be a better Christian. When I embraced the belief that His perfect creative control, including all my faults and rebellions and sins, were part and parcel of His plan for my life, I desired to overcome them.
Recently there was something I wanted very badly and I wasn't getting it. One day my husband said to me, "You must be doing something wrong." I was shocked. Me? What am I doing wrong?
And he said, "God hasn't given you your heart's desire, has He?"
I was struck by that remark, and I realized I was doing something wrong. So I corrected it and worked harder. And now I'm getting my heart's desire.
And this "behavior modification" advice came from the most devout, dogmatic, black-and-white Predestinarian I've ever known.
I believe every moment of this experience in my life was scripted by God, as each person's life is likewise scripted. And knowing this is a remarkable, tangible impetus "to will and to do of His good pleasure."
Maybe they're just poorly led, though.
Tell them, Pastor, who is leading them...
"And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left." -- Isaiah 30:21
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