Baseball and the Church- America’s “Pastimes”

Last updated on: June 1, 2015 at 10:23 pm by Steven Jo

Baseball and the Church- America’s “Pastimes” 2015-06-01T22:23:28-05:00 Steven Jo

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Most exciting part of baseball, hotdogs. Pic props to Mia Oh

I love sports. There are very few things in life better than watching the best athletes compete on the world’s biggest stages, especially when it comes to you live in your own living room in full HD (outside of hockey and a basketball game at MSG, I’d rather watch at home). But over the past half-decade, I found myself twiddling my thumbs from late June to Nov. (there are two football seasons–one that starts in Sep. and one after Thanksgiving. The latter is what counts). I thought to myself, “What happened to my year-long marriage with sports?” Then it hit me. No baseball.

I wondered why baseball was no longer relevant in my life. Was it because one NY team lost its “juice” and the other was too busy battling the NJ Madoffs? Or was it because I realized there was no urgency in all but a fourth of the 162? Maybe it was because the curse of the bambino was broken and I could no longer glory in another city’s misery? I reasoned all of these things played some role in my divorce with baseball.

But a few weeks ago I watched on youtube (where else?) baseball’s expert Chris Rock parse out the reasons why baseball is dying. I agreed wholeheartedly. It wasn’t just because my NY teams sucked. Baseball’s problems were bigger than the decline of my local teams. They had a number of big-picture problems. And as a result, baseball had lost its touch with the younger (black) generation.

(warning: explicit language)

Here are the reasons why baseball is dying according to Mr. Rock:

Baseball is stuck in the past.

It lacks diversity.

The sport is slow and long.

Baseball has this weird unwritten code of conduct.

Millennials aren’t into baseball. They enjoy basketball. They love football. And their interest for the world’s sport futbol is growing. But not baseball. With this subconsciously in the back on my mind, I watched carefully as the public and public figures reacted to the recent survey by the Pew Research Center. “Christianity is dying” they cried. “No it’s not” argued others. Without taking sides, I think it’s a bit presumptuous to say “Christianity is dying.” Christianity can never die because its architect Christ is the author of life. But what we can say in light of the survey is that the church is in decline and millennials are distancing themselves from it. But I don’t think we Americans needed a survey to tell us this. And as I read more and more, and thoughtfully prayed more and more, I realized a lot of the church’s big picture problems are the same with baseball’s. Without jumping to conclusions, take the problems outlined above and switch out the subject.

_______ is stuck in the past.

_________ lacks diversity.

The _________ is slow and long.

___________ has this weird unwritten code of conduct.

Strange, it fits so well.

Here is Nate Cohn’s analysis of Pew’s survey.

The report does not offer an explanation for the decline of the Christian population, but the low levels of Christian affiliation among the young, well educated and affluent are consistent with prevailing theories for the rise of the unaffiliated, like the politicization of religion by American conservatives, a broader disengagement from all traditional institutions and labels, the combination of delayed and interreligious marriage, and economic development.

On a smaller scale, here is what Bryan Chapell had to say about his Christian denomination. “…if more progress is not made in cultural engagement, demographic diversity, and world-Christian involvement, my own children will struggle to stay with the PCA.”

The numbers are strikingly similar. According to Nielsen’s ratings, half of baseball viewers are 55 or older. The Pew study reports that the median age of mainline Protestant adults is 52.

Some may argue, unlike baseball there is ethnic diversity within the church. But none can argue against the fact that there is a lack of ethnic diversity within the walls of each local church. Baseball has this kind of diversity too. It’s called the Dominican League, the Japanese League, and the Cuban League.

It seems that both baseball and the church are at the same crossroads. After seeing unrivaled success, both have waned over the past few decades. Both are getting old. Once America’s pastimes, baseball and the church are now “past its time.”

What can we do? With this I am not suggesting we change the essential rules of baseball. Nor am I implying the church compromise on its foundation and the basic principles on which it is built. (At this point I think it is wise to show my cards–I am a proud card-carrying Reformed orthodox Christian who believes in the presbyterian form of church government.) But both really need to consider reforming their praxes so that they are no longer __________ (you choose the critique). Baseball has made some attempt at this during the past offseason (see here). This is a start. But it needs to be more active in doing more. Umpires, stop frowning upon instant replay and embrace accountability. Players (and pitchers in particular), you don’t need to “protect” the game by following some unwritten code of conduct. Managers, stop making decisions based on “gut-feeling.” Baseball, please shorten your games and your season; records really don’t matter now after the former commish turned a blind eye to steroids-use. Finally, you can continue to have Old-Timers’ Day, but please do more for the youth and look ahead into the future. Church, are you hearing this?

And don’t say, “that’s just the way we’ve done it around here.” Millennials hate hearing that. And frankly Jesus seems to hate that response too. With respect to attitude and expression, don’t say there is a right way to play baseball. With respect to attitude and expression, don’t say there is a right way to do church.

home of the NY Mets. Props to Mia Oh

Baseball is a beautiful sport. As long as it does not appear and feel as though it’s from the 1970’s, baseball can and should win back the hearts of the younger generation. Same goes for the church, for the one whom she represents is Beautiful.

But in the end, both parties may not feel the urgency to reform. Though the numbers nationally are down, local ratings remain steady. Though their national appeal is down, locally they’re still operating on profit. And as long as their revenue streams remain constant, the people in upper management won’t be forced to change, and as a result, we’ll continue to get a steady diet of “________ is still dying.”

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