As our youth prepare to head back to school, let's talk a bit about standards and rules that they will face. If you are a student, are you the kind of person that puts your best effort into excelling under rules, or do they no apply to you? Should they be changed to accommodate you? Let's talk about what happens when try to widen the plate.
Speaking of plates, this is a baseball episode! Nolan Ryan is in this thing. I love baseball. It is a game of set rules. People who work them, and grow to follow them well, excel. People who don't want to conform don't last long. Let's talk about how those mentalities apply to godliness and life.
Parents. Teachers. Authority figures. The bar you set for yourself and the youth says a lot about you now and a lot about who those youth will grow up to become. Balance is difficult. Sometimes we are too lenient. Sometimes we are too harsh. But God has shown us how challenging and hopeful balance can be... if we accept the rules. And if we continue to put our best effort to follow then. Perfection is unattainable. Thankful God never demanded that of his pitchers... I mean, people.
- How wide is a baseball home plate?
- Should it be widened for people who are struggling to throw strikes?
- How do people on both end of the authority spectrum sometimes make this mistake?
- If perfection isn't possible, why don't all pitchers just give up. Did Nolan give up?
- How is God's grace, even while giving us rules, a great template for all our lives?