It's Not What You Think: Why Christianity Is About So Much More Than Going to Heaven When You Die by Jefferson Bethke

Author:Jefferson Bethke [Bethke, Jefferson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2015-10-12T18:30:00+00:00

WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL, I PLAYED ON THE BASEBALL team. We were pretty good—picked to win the state title and even ranked nationally. During spring break, we had a few games but no classes; so we’d get to the field early, warm up, and have time for a few competitive games.

One of the games was a scrimmage, with batting-practice pitching instead of a live pitcher. I was playing center field at the time, and a teammate crushed one into the right center gap. I started sprinting toward the ball and realized about halfway there I had a shot at catching it if I dove. As I got closer, I leaped as far as I could, and to give me a few extra inches of room, I turned away from the ball, and surprisingly made the catch.

That was eight years ago, but I can still see it play out in slow motion in my head. Because of the awkward turn I took and the height at which I caught the ball, I came crashing to the ground with my right arm across my chest. I then heard one of the loudest pops I’ve ever heard in my life.

The pain was immediately searing, but I thought it’d wear off in a few seconds as a lot of injuries do. When I tried to get up, I literally couldn’t move my arm. It just laid flat by my side while I was writhing back and forth on my knees. When the coach and a few others came to meet me out there, we realized just how serious it was. Because I couldn’t move, they had to cut off my jersey to take a look. My collarbone was sticking out an inch or two from where it normally should be. I had completely shattered it.

My season was over. No more baseball. No more playing. No more shot at the state championship. I broke my collarbone so badly I had to get two metal plates and ten screws to put it back in place.

After that happened I had a lot of time to think because there isn’t much to do in a hospital bed besides eat Jello and watch The Price Is Right. The weird part was that—even though it wasn’t permanent, even though we didn’t know for sure at the time—I lost a huge part of my identity in a flash.

I had been playing competitive baseball since I could remember. Thousands of dollars. Tons of equipment. Trainers. Trips. Time. Energy. Sweat. My life orbited around baseball. It was a pillar, a center of gravity, in my life.

And then, in a moment, it was gone.

It’s human nature: we only notice the true value of something once it’s gone. When baseball was taken from me, I realized I didn’t just like it, I worshiped it. I was defined by it. I got my worth from it. It was my god, my functional savior.

Of course, I’d never have said that. But my life pointed to that.

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