I am a baseball coach. A very good one...i think. I have a lot to learn. Honestly, instructing high school boys about the game of baseball is fun, tiresome, and rewarding. Being a former high-school baseball player it is awkward being on the coaching side of the game, but i immediately recognize the tremendous amount of influence that i have. I have the power to: make the guys run all practice, to work on their pitching form, to change the way that they think about the game of baseball. They are starting to think like i think. Work hard, fundamentals, work as a team, go full-speed, etc.
Knowing all this, one athlete told me something that i want to change. He saw the "reject religion, embrace Jesus," shirt that i was wearing and formally proclaimed to the whole team and myself that he didn't believe in God, heaven, hell, or anything of that nature. A fifteen-year-old-atheist. He's not even old enough to drive let alone his adolescence, practical (or walking) philosophy. The question that he arose which comes from even the oldest and intellectually savvy philospher is one of the problem of evil. He seemed dogmatic, even for a teenager.
So, what happens? Does the teenager learn about hell, heaven, God, Jesus from his stinkin' baseball coach? Use the influence that God has given to you, remember what is most important, and love people.
