On July 20th all of Kansas City cheered when struggling pitcher Jonathan Sanchez was traded to the Colorado Rockies for Jeremy Guthrie. It wasn’t just that Sanchez struggled it was that he struggled with a laissez-faire attitude. Royals fans wanted someone with passion. Jeremy Guthrie fit the bill.
Guthrie started his Royals career slowly, losing his first three games. But then he ripped off 18 straight games without recording a loss. During that streak Guthrie posted 10 wins and a stellar 2.21 ERA. The Royals were 16-2 in Guthrie starts. Sanchez continued is implosion making only 3 starts for the Rockies and posting a 9.53 ERA. The Royals had struck gold.
Guthrie remains in the good graces of KC fans and more importantly for his paycheck, the upper management of the Royals. Guthrie earned himself a 3 year 25 million dollar contract. And the Royals brass seems content to have Guthrie as a mainstay in their rotation. But should they?
Since the winning streak ended (May 14, 2013) Guthrie has posted a 10-12 record with a 4.54 ERA and giving up 23 home runs during that span. He’s still no Jonathan Sanchez but he’s also not a pitcher that ought to be making $11 million in 2014. His early success as a Royals compared to who he was replacing, has perhaps clouded the Royals vision of what they need in their starting rotation.
How this relates to the Christian life
As I think about Jeremy Guthrie, and dream of a better arm in the Royals rotation, I can’t help but compare this to something that I have seen in the lives of new believers, especially those that were converted out of obviously worldliness.
It is amazing what happens in the life of a new believer. Passions are full, grace is lively, and many find a new resolve to pursue godliness. I’ve witnessed men and women long addicted to certain vices quit them cold turkey. No need for a 12 step program, no need for counseling, they just come to know Jesus and their desires immediately change. Their early growth in Christ mirrors that of Jeremy Guthrie’s insane start for the Royals.
Then the streak ends. Passions start to grow a little colder, grace isn’t as lively, and resolve to pursue godliness begins to dwindle. But they aren’t alarmed by this stagnation. They look back upon who they once were and reason that they have no reason for alarm, at least they aren’t who they once were.
John Newton once said, “I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am”
We ought not rest in the last part of that quote without the striving in the first part of the quote. Our enemy would have us content with only a little holiness, and only a little striving after Christ. If he cannot change the fact that we are a new creation, he’ll use that truth to lead to our stagnation. He’ll encourage us with our spiritual progress and convince us to encourage our present state with who we once were. But friends, our old self is not our standard. Christ is our standard and our aim.
Yeah Jeremy Guthrie isn’t Jonathan Sanchez. That’s wonderful. But let’s not pretend that Jonathan Sanchez is the mark for what we want in a starting pitcher and so long as you aren’t him you’ll lead your team to playing October baseball. In the same way let us not set our old selves as the standard—and so long as we don’t drift back to that mark we’ll be okay.
