Unpack This...Taking Sin SeriouslySample

The Rise In Strikeouts

In Major League Baseball, there’s been a growing concern about too many players striking out and not getting hits.

Tim Kurkjian wrote about rising strikeout totals on ESPN.com: “The strikeout dilemma has MLB officials deeply concerned, given it is the primary reason for the game's sluggish pace of play and its troublesome lack of action on certain nights.”

Although former legendary pitcher Nolan Ryan struck out more batters than any pitcher in history (5,714), Tim said in the article, "It used to be the ultimate embarrassment to walk back to the dugout and rack your own helmet, but it's not like that today.”

Many batters (and even managers) are accepting the rise in strikeouts. As long as players hit home runs, they're not concerned about stepping up to the plate and missing the ball three times.

Regardless, the baseball community is calling for a change to cut down the high rate of strikeouts infiltrating the game before negative long-term effects result.

When unpacking the state of today’s strikeouts, there’s a parallel to our view of sin. Do we hate “striking out” or do we accept it? Do we think sin doesn’t matter as long as we’re “hitting home runs”? Are we trying to make a change before negative long-term effects set in?

As followers of Jesus, we know we’ll still strike out at times, despite receiving grace and forgiveness because of the cross. However, that doesn’t mean we should accept and tolerate sin. Rather, in light of Jesus' love and mercy and our desire to follow Him, we should be grieved by our sins and choose to turn from them.

Colossians 3:1-10 reminds us of our new life and need for His transforming power to help us move forward from “strikeouts”: "Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him."

While humbly embracing our new life in Christ, let’s allow the Holy Spirit’s conviction of sin to drive us toward repentance and grace. Let’s take sin seriously and rely on God to decrease our “strikeout” numbers.

I’m Bryce Johnson and you can UNPACK that!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, convict me of my sin and show me ways I should repent. Help me take Your Word seriously and choose to obey as I rest in Your grace and love. Thank you for saving and forgiving me. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.