This past weekend, my church’s men’s ministry sponsored a
camping retreat to a local area outdoor resort.
The resort featured cabins with bunk beds, a dining hall with prepared
food, a private lake complete with canoes, zip line, trampoline, and water
slide. Ok, it wasn’t really “camping”
but it was in the woods and there were mosquitoes and possibly bears.
Among those in the group were approximately 25 men whose
ages ranged from early 20’s to mid 50’s.
We had nearly equal number representing age groups of 20’s, 30’s, 40’s
and 50’s. Although most of us were
married and leaving both wives and children behind for half of the weekend,
there was a sense that this group had much to gain by getting away, if only for
a short time, with other men who call themselves Christ-followers. As men, we are under immense pressure due to
the responsibilities required of us by our families, our jobs, and our
Church. It is expected that we be serious,
responsible, mature and above all… adults.
So, naturally, a group of men on a retreat looking to draw
nearer to Christ would need to make sure to act as mature as possible,
right? Weellllll… Not quite.
Upon arriving to the resort, one of the amenities we
discovered was a competition level Wiffle Ball field! Complete with manicured grass, defined base paths backstop, outfield fence, this gift from Heaven sat before us and
transformed 25 grown men into 12-year-olds.
We chose captains and went old school by drafting players one by
one. For a moment, childhood
insecurities resurfaced, because who wants to be the last one picked,
especially, among this motley crew of non-physical specimens.
And then the games began.
And so too did the merciless heckling and mocking. Athletic ability and skills among the group
varied about as much singing ability in any particular row of seats during
Sunday morning worship. One man even hit
a grand slam home run his first at-bat (and because this particular guy is extremely
humble, I won’t mention his name). The
lead pastor probably received some grace, right? I mean, after all, he labors over the caring
and nurturing of our souls, right?
Wrong. He finished with three
popup outs and was subjected to never forget it. Some guys earned clever nicknames. There was Corn Dog, Dougie Nickels, Captain
Skidmarks, Frank n’ Beans, and Bobalicious.
(Only one of those was made up)
So how does this relate to Jesus? How does Wiffle Ball bring you closer to
Christ? By the end of our four hour
Wiffle Ball marathon, these individual men were no longer guys defined by a
certain age bracket, job status, level of education, athletic ability,
etc. In that moment, we were just kids.
Christ says in Matthew 18 verses 3 and 4: “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven."
Life for men can be wrought with pressures, expectations and fear of failure. But if we were to be honest, most of those are things we put on ourselves or allow the world to put on us. We become the lord of what defines our success instead of allowing THE Lord to define us through is already finished work. And don’t confuse this for immaturity. Because, it’s hard to argue that the immaturity of the contemporary American man is at an epidemic level. Your Heavenly Father is not looking for immaturity like a child, but rather, dependency.
We are adopted CHILDREN of God. (Romans 8:15) We are called to approach him like a child with surrender of ourselves and dependency upon the work finished on our behalf on the Cross.
That night, after dinner and a lesson on how to play 4-square, 25 men went into a time of devotion in The Word. With our grown-up masks off, and child-like demeanor on, God was able to do an amazing work amongst HIS children. Men read and analyzed scripture with clarity. Men prayed for other men. And with a child-like dependency on our heavenly Father, lives began to transform that night.
What ideas or things do you do to approach the Lord more like a child? Is it board games, singing songs or telling jokes?
