What does it mean to be a Christian?

Ichiro was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame last weekend. His speech was in the same style as his baseball playing: humble, steady, and skillfully executed. I always liked the way Ichiro approached the game of baseball. He was a disciplined hitter, learning from each at-bat, always looking to advance the team’s scoring more than his own statistical record. Along the way, he did both splendidly.

Another baseball player I admire is Cal Raleigh, aka The Big Dumper. With the same discipline and humility as Ichiro, he is breaking home run records this season. In an era when the famous and privileged are behaving with all the arrogance and selfishness of bratty junior high schoolers, the way of Ichiro and Cal stands out.

As I approach my last full month serving as pastor at MBPPC, I continue to take cues from people like Ichiro and Cal. I have tried to bring steadiness, discipline, and a beginner’s mind to my work. Here are two comments that have always been at the back of my mind in my service as pastor:

“We do not want to be beginners. But let us be convinced of the fact that we will never be anything else but beginners, all our life!” (Thomas Merton, “Contemplative Prayer)

“I am very deeply honored to receive such a wonderful prize. But I have to ask whether I really deserve it. I’m a little worried. Because I don’t feel that I understand cinema yet.” (Akira Kurosawa, in his acceptance speech after receiving a lifetime achievement award at the Academy Awards ceremony in 1990)

I don’t feel that I understand “church” yet. And my efforts as a pastor have been one long lesson in how ill-equipped I feel. By the grace of God, I have been called to do what I have done with the past 41 years of my life (4 in seminary and 36 as an ordained minister). As I look forward, the questions will be the same. And, I hope, they are the same for you, too:

What does it mean to be a Christian?

Is the life I am living at least remotely on the path God has blessed?

Am I a loving person in any way similar to the way of Jesus?

In Christ,

Lee