Unlikely hero teaches Christian life

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I have been a Cincinnati Reds fan for almost my entire life.

I remember my father bringing me the almost 100 miles from Jackson, Ohio to Cincinnati to watch the old Reds playing in Crosley Field many years ago. The likes of Vada Pinson, Gus Bell, Frank Robinson, Jim Maloney, Jim O’Toole, and the rest of those guys were my heroes, long before the Big Red Machine and the Great Eight of the mid-’70s.

But in all my years of watching the Reds, even including the record-breaking years of Pete Rose and Tom Browning, I never saw what occurred about a month ago at Great American Ball Park.

For more than a century of Major League Baseball, only 16 men have homered four times in one game. The last was Josh Hamilton, five years ago. Most of the members of this elite group were brawny, true power hitters. Twelve of the 16 hit at least 200 home runs in their careers. Nine of them hit 300 or more home runs.

Then along came Scooter Gennett — all 5-foot-10, 185 pounds and his 38 career home runs.

On an ordinary Tuesday night, June 6 in Cincinnati, Gennett, a vagabond player who had bounced from team to team and from the majors to the minors, a spotty hitter who had gone on an 0 for 19 slump, hit four home runs (including a grand slam) and had a career-high 10 RBI against the Cardinals.

In the first inning, he singled to left field against Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright. In the third, he hit a grand slam to right field off Wainwright. In the fourth, he hit a two-run home run to center field, again off Wainwright. In the sixth, he homered to left, just to the fair side of the foul pole, against reliever John Gant. That was three homers.

“My teammates were awesome the whole time,” Gennett told reporters in Cincinnati, with a laugh, “letting me know exactly what I needed to do and how many home runs I had at each point.”

In the eighth, against reliever John Brebbia, with two strikes against him, Gennett swung again at a high fastball. Gennett later said, “I know that if I try to hit a home run it’s not going to happen. So I just tried to relax and put a good swing on the ball and it ended up working out.”

One game. Five hits, 17 total bases, 10 RBIs.

“That’s baseball, man,” he said. “It’s a crazy game. That’s why you never give up. You always try to get better, make adjustments, and I did just that. Our hitting coach, Don [Long], he’s worked with me lately to kind of fine tune some things. And I think we did just that tonight.”

When I read those comments by Scooter Gennett, I was impressed by the biblical principles that his remarks revealed. There are three that immediately jump off the page. Can you spot them?

The first principle is that of perseverance. Gennett said “That’s why you never give up.”

Oftentimes, we attempt to do something and fail the first time out. The temptation is to simply give up and quite trying. But over the long haul, perseverance and endurance are the qualities which produce the success that we all long to have. In the Scriptures, we read of the perseverance that produced godliness and positive results in the lives of the fathers of our faith. Just a few examples will suffice. Noah is a great illustration of perseverance.

In a day and age when people were mocking anyone who believed in God and attempted to follow God’s commands, Noah persevered. Abraham was told he would be the father of a great nation, and even though he was old and childless, he persevered. Joseph, Moses, Ruth, Daniel, and Esther, along with Peter, Paul, and James and John, are other examples of perseverance as well. In Romans 5, we read that “…endurance produces character, and character produces hope…” (v.4).

Does it not make sense that we should persevere as well? Don’t give up. Stick to it. And watch God work through it!

The second principle is that of the benefit of community, teamwork and friendship.

Did you notice that in his post-game comments Gennett spoke of what “we” did tonight? He was quick to praise his teammates for how they were helping and encouraging him throughout the game. His successful evening was a group effort, and he did not fail to give credit to his team for their part in the overall success which he enjoyed.

The Scriptures are clear that we are not to attempt to live the Christian life alone. Not only do we see such passages as Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 proclaim loudly that “two are better than one”, but also throughout the Scriptures we see that when people attempted to serve God or even draw close to God in isolation, away from the impact and influence of like-minded friends, more often than not they failed.

And again, we have many examples of how the men and women in the Bible who worked well with others were successful in what they attempted to do for God.

The third principle we see here is found in the importance of understanding the nature of blessings that come into our lives each and every day. When Scooter Gennett got out of bed on that Tuesday morning, he did not expect to be the game hero that night.

And just like him, you and I do not know what will happen to us today!

So we can enter each day of our lives trusting in the Savior of our souls for each and every step we take that day. And expect to be surprised … and blessed.

What we learn from Scooter Gennett then is to persevere in living the Christian life, and not to attempt it alone, and then to expect to be not only surprised by the outcome but blessed as well!

God bless …

Chuck Tabor is a regular columnist for the Times-Gazette and the News Journal. He is also the former Pastor of Port William UMC, Port William.

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Chuck Tabor

Contributing columnist

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