The eCrozier

Baseball fits America well because it expresses our longing for the rule of law while licensing our resentment of law givers. – Bart Giamatti, former MLB Commissioner

Christmas will soon be here so naturally my thoughts turn to baseball. You see, Bart Giamatti’s quote can teach us an important truth about Christmas (more on that later). Michael Lewis, author of the best-selling books Moneyball and The Big Short, has a wonderful podcast called Against the Rules. In each episode, Lewis examines how Giamatti’s observation about baseball applies to other parts of life. He concludes we long for rules in our lives, but only as long as they favor us. If they don’t, we resent the rules and the rule enforcers (umpires and referees). As Lewis’s 11-year-old son says to those refereeing his youth basketball games: “Don’t pick sides, unless you pick mine.”

We love to second-guess referees, sometimes loudly, but mostly in good fun. Referees, however, are needed for the world to work justly at more than just sporting events. We often call these “referees” by other names like “inspectors,” “regulators,” or “judges.” For example, we need those responsible for regulating our water supply to get it right. We want them to call a “foul” when the water becomes unsafe to drink. We must have highway bridge inspectors insist builders follow construction standards. If they don’t, tragedy results. We expect court judges to administer the law justly and impartially, not favoring one side or the other. But “referees” don’t always follow the rules. Thus, we get poisonous water in Flint, Michigan, a collapsed bridge in Minnesota, and innocent people sent to Death Row. And where were the referees on Wall Street when the big banks were playing a game of “over-under” with people’s pensions and mortgages? Nowhere to be found. We seem to get most upset, however, when referees blow a call in sports (possibly we don’t have our priorities right). Remember last January when the New Orleans Saints were robbed of a Super Bowl berth when the referees failed to make an obvious pass interference call? People who lost money betting on the game filed a class action lawsuit against the NFL. Of course, they did.

Now, what does this have to do with Christmas? Many people misunderstand the God revealed biblically to us in Jesus Christ. They see God as a cosmic Santa Claus refereeing who’s been naughty and who’s been nice. If this “referee god” catches us breaking the rules, then we’re penalized for eternity. If, however, we’ve been good boys and girls, we’ll earn everlasting bliss. But Christmas disavows us of this unbiblical view of God. At Christmas, God drops Jesus into our laps saying: “here’s my baby boy!” Following God’s purpose, Jesus grew up and then went to the cross to die for us sinners. Those who demand the rule of law are greatly offended by a God who’d do such a thing. Is it any wonder, once they learn the Gospel truth, such people resent God? God just throws out the rulebook for how sinners are judged. But it turns out that was God’s M.O. all along. As the beloved Christmas carol Greensleeves reminds us: Why lies he in such mean estate where ox and ass are feeding? Good Christian fear for sinners here the silent Word is pleading. This carol asks us to imagine Jesus as a newborn baby interceding for us sinners. And he never stops doing so. Merry Christmas!

+Scott