I'm the kind of Red Sox fan who never lived in Boston. I fell in love with the Red Sox in 2003, when the Red Sox met the Yankees in the ALCS in October. The tension ran high between these two teams, which was nothing new; but this series was hard-fought. The Yankees would end up winning this series of games, and not without some violence before it was all done.
That picture right there? That's Pedro Martinez throwing down the 72-year old pitching coach, Don Zimmer. First of all, I am not suggesting violence toward senior citizens is a good thing, but it takes some stones to charge into battle like that!
As heartbreaking as this loss was, Red Sox fans might have even expected this to happen. The last time the Red Sox had won the World Series was 1918. Just one year later, the Sox traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees, inaugurating "The Curse Of The Bambino." It seemed hopeless!
Next year, the 2004 ALCS was a re-match between these same two teams, and it was even more exciting! Pitchers were throwing at batters. Benches were clearing almost nightly. If you think baseball is boring, you haven't seen the Sox play the Yankees!
This series was especially historic because the Yankees one the first three games in a seven-game series, leaving the Red Sox with an almost hopeless chance at winning. Only two teams in North American sports history (not just baseball) had ever come back from 0-3 to win a 7-game series, but they scratched and clawed their way back to win! They would go on to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals to win the World Series for the first time since 1918!
Everybody loves a comeback story (except for maybe a Yankees fan in this case). More recently, we've seen the Cleveland Cavaliers come back to win the NBA Championship, after falling behind three games to one in the series. Just one year later, the Cubs would fall behind three games to one against the Cleveland Indians in the 2016 World Series. This is why I love sports! Anything can change at any moment.
But is it sports? Or is it the comeback story?
One of the more influential men in recent history, Steve Jobs, after being fired from Apple, was invited to come back and bring the company to a level of success they'd never dreamed of! Robert Downey, Jr. was on the path to success, only to become heavily addicted to drugs. He would come back to defeat his addiction and become the highest paid actor in Hollywood in 2015!
Our church is experiencing a comeback story of it's own. God planted a vision in my heart for a church that would one day reach people all over the city of Columbus. In 2014, we moved to Columbus to get started! Just five months later, we started a Bible study that would grow until we could no longer fit everyone in our living room. So we launched on October 11, 2015. By May 15, 2016, we would step back from the church plant, so we could re-evaluate and take a breather. If you aren't familiar with the story, you can read more about that here.
Soon after we had our last service, I went into a depression that I'd never experienced before. Truthfully, I wasn't even sure I would get back in ministry. I was struggling to find any worth at all when I looked in the mirror.
But through a series of conversations with family & friends and lots of time crying out to God, I would eventually come back to a place where I trusted in God once again. I was willing to step out of the boat one more time.
Everybody loves a comeback story, but no one wants to need one.
I can honestly tell you that the sin of pride in my life has never been more clear. I don't love our story, if I'm being quite honest. I don't like admitting that it "didn't work" the first time. To be honest, I'm still dealing with that. As much as I love a good comeback story, my pride didn't want to be in a place where I needed one personally.
We all have times in our life where we're not "winning." In those times, we need our community to come around us. There are too many to name, and if I tried, I would surely leave people out, so I won't. But I will say this, I would be in a gutter if it weren't for those precious few individuals who would help me back to my feet, wipe my eyes and give me a clearer picture of Jesus.
And THAT is what I want our church to be about. There are people who live in our city that feel hopeless because of broken relationships, unmet expectations, sickness, etc. The only reason I was able to get to a healthier place was because of the people in my life who love me! I think about all the people who are walking through hard times in life without a loving, caring family and it breaks my heart!
So we're taking a step out of the boat again, to follow Jesus with full abandon because we KNOW He has called and sent us. We KNOW He is equipping us and that He will give us everything we need to fight every battle that we're about to encounter.
We're in the middle of our own comeback story and we will see our dreams come to pass; not because we pulled ourselves up by our bootstraps, but because God is the one who is empowering us and this group of people are willing to keep their eyes focused on the one goal!
To bring the hope of Jesus to this city! To guide people to experience life in Jesus Christ!