A Field of Dreams

Behind our tiny church sits an empty ball field, carved out of land given by a church member. It's not much, just your typical neighborhood sandlot but I believe it's the starting point to changing lives.

I grew up in the locker room. My dad was an athletic trainer my entire life and I spent my entire childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood surrounded by athletes and sports. In my 32 years I have attempted to play every sport I could. I played baseball, soccer, football, basketball, and eventually I settled in nicely with a sport that fit me, track and field. I love sports and I believe these games provide something for kids who are searching, just like music, art, or drama does. When I look out onto the ball field I see an opportunity to impact lives in the smallest of ways; the same way every athlete or coach did for me. (I am desperately fighting the desire to name drop.)

Every Sunday during the spring, summer and into the late fall, we host a softball game. Anyone is welcomed to join and provide gloves and bats for those who do not have one. For 3 hours every Sunday afternoon, teenagers show up to just hit the ball around, often trying to see who can out hit the other. For 3 hours they have absolute zero concerns. They are able to lay aside their issues at home, school, or in general and, for a while at least, they just get to be kids. To me those are the rare moments when the kingdom of heaven breaks through.

It's not much to teach a kid how to hit a softball but it means a lot to take the time to show them how. They may not ever say anything but I know based on their attitudes and their constant showing up, those little moments matter. There is something about an adult you admire taking a moment to say, “Great hit!” or “Let me show a trick here.” Just those small comments can impact a life far greater than a life time of well crafted sermons.

One of the biggest crises facing our students and children are absent parents, specifically absent fathers. Many do not get a chance to learn the wildness and fun of being a kid during the summer. They are not afforded those same moments many of us were when we'd organize the neighborhood kids into a pick up game. Today, teenagers and children are forced to grow up a lot faster than many of us were because they are alone. Their parents are either at work all the time trying to make ends meet or they are simply absent or, as is with many of our kids, they come from broken families where the father or mother want nothing to do with them. They need adults who are willing to spend just a few hours with them doing nothing but playing catch.

I have started to call our ball field the “Field of Dreams” after the Kevin Costner film of the same name. The whole theme was “Build it and they will come.” Turns out the "they" was really" he", Costner's dad. It fits because the purpose of it all is to simply play catch, after all, that's all Costner's character wanted to do with his dad, just to play catch, the film fades out as the two just toss the ball back and forth.. I think our churches get caught up doing something big for the kingdom that we forget about the importance of the small things. It reminds me of a story.

One morning, after the resurrection, Peter decides to go fishing and a few of the disciples decide to join him. They spend the entire day and night fishing. The next morning, a man calls from the shore, “Have you caught any fish?", and they respond, “No!”

“Throw your net out to the right!” he yells back. The disciples do not question the man. They simply cast their nets and within seconds their nets literally runneth over. John immediately says, “It's the Lord!” and Peter, in Peter like fashion, dives into the water and swims to shore while the disciples row like crazy to catch up. Nothing mattered in that moment but being with Jesus and all it took to see Jesus was to go and fish.

I think that is what it really means to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth. I think it means taking the time to do nothing but throw the ball around, in order for a kid to see Jesus. We can have all the evangelism conferences, big mission trips, rock concerts, revivals, but I'm starting to believe that all it really takes is an empty ball field and a game of catch to really change this world.

At least that's what I see happening out there every Sunday on our Field of Dreams.