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Written by John H. Roark, pastor
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Thursday, 26 June 2008 23:03 |
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The recent "baseball" comments call for another. I read recently about a famous sermon by a Los Angeles preacher, E. V. Hill, pastor of a large African-American Baptist church there. He compares becoming a Christian and being a Christian to the bases one must run in a ball game:
First base is personal faith in and commitment to Jesus Christ. his is an absolute requirement if one is (to) win in the game of the Christian life. He notes that there are people who try to round second and third bases, but somehow managed to miss first base, either deliberately or accidentally. (He adds, rather humorously, that there are some folks who touch first base and then take a sharp right and head for the dugout where they sit looking in the sky and waiting for the rapture, since their sole concern seems to be the afterlife.)
Second base is everything we'd call "churchy" matters: sacraments, Christian nurture, fellowship, i.e., all the things we do around the church to cultivate, strengthen, and enhance the Christian life. Third base is the life of service and outreach to others, in their many forms. Both second and third bases are the logical second and third steps of the long journey we call the Christian life, but neither is really Christian if one neglected to touch first base. He notes that there are many folks who are concerned about "churchy" matters and service projects but don't really have personal faith and commitment to Jesus Christ, without which one is really not a Christian, however well-intentioned he may be in the other matters.
So, we must be sure to preach a complete Gospel: faith in Jesus Christ, growing and strengthening that basic faith commitment, and reaching out to a needy world in various ways, but always in Jesus' name and for Jesus' sake. …
John H. Roark, pastor
Buford Church
Buford, Ga.
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