Moneyball in Corinth
In the Corinthian Jesus community and in the the Oakland Athletics ball club, they were not thriving because they were still clinging to an old system while stumbling toward a new one. If you really believe in what you say, the only way to thrive is to go all-in. Billy Beane knew this, and Paul knew this.
Moneyball is a movie about Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane’s revolutionary approach to baseball. The Athletics were struggling under the convergence of baseball and capitalism. They did not have the budget to compete. Star players were siphoned off by large-budget organizations. While on the road recruiting, Beane encounters Paul Brand, an economist from Yale with an entirely different approach to the game. Beane begins to ask new questions based upon the revelation from Brand. The answers would flip baseball on its head. He is ostracized for it. He loses friends. His livelihood is threatened. His ball club is not all-in with his strategy, and they are failing miserably. Can a winning team really emerge from a collection of unwanted players? If Beane and Brand fully believe in their idea, they are going to have to put all their weight on it. Beane is going to have to push the team all-in- whatever the consequences.
The veneer between the seen and the unseen peels way to reveal the risen Jesus to Paul on his journey from Jerusalem to Damascus in pursuit of followers of the Way. Paul abandons his previous life entirely in order to follow Jesus and introduce Him to the Gentile world. As a Zealot, it is no surprise that Paul goes all-in on this cruciform way of life centered on Jesus as the Messiah. The Way of Jesus is nothing like the old system and its criteria of acceptance, belonging, and rank. Throughout the Roman world, Paul starts Jesus communities. But the community he starts in Corinth continues to play ball the old way. Paul writes a couple of letters to them (and pays a “painful visit”) in order to remind them that the way of Jesus is an entirely different way of playing ball. If this going to work, they are going to have to go all-in.
The movie can help us understand what Paul was saying to the community in Corinth. They were struggling with divisions over several things. They somewhat accepted the Jesus way taught by Paul, but they were still in the old system of Corinthian ethos. They divided over social rank, the handling of idols as they related to their daily life, and even the popularity of their teachers. All of this mixed the old way with the new. Paul adapted his way of life to conform to the life of Jesus, and he challenged them to do the same. Unlike the all-star teachers in Corinth, Paul did not come to Corinth for their wealth; he came for them. He humbled himself and provided his own way , even though he had every right to expect them to pay him for his services. He did not just teach the way of Christ, he exemplified it. His plan was evident in his words and his example. This way is not built upon dynamic personalities; it is built upon humble service and love that edifies the group. This new system flips the Corinthian world on its head. It is counter to the strengths and wisdom valued by the world.
Moneyball tells the same story. Just as Paul challenged the ethos of Corinth, Beane will challenge the ethos of Major League Baseball. The baseball world has a traditional system of values. What is valued? Strength, the”look of the player,” throwing motion, bat speed, player speed,… Individual attributes are the sole criteria for evaluation. Is the player impressive? Get enough impressive players, and you have an impressive team. What do Beane and Brand value? They want players with weaknesses, when combined, amount to collective strength. In other words, you do not have to be a great player, you just have to contribute your small part. Your contribution, added to the collective, forms a fully functioning team.
“Adapt or die.”
Billy Beane, Moneyball
Paul does same the same thing. Your gift, added to the gifts of others, builds a fully functioning community that reflects the Jesus way of life. The total is greater than the sum of its parts. Stop trying to adopt the old valuation system of superstars and flashy displays. Instead, just do your part and encourage others along the way. Adapt to the new way of life predicated upon the love of Christ that builds up one another, uniting in this one aim through the humble service Christ demonstrates, that Paul demonstrates. Corinth needs to adopt the way of Jesus in order to adapt to the New Kingdom way of life. If the divisions and struggles are going to end, they are going to have go all-in.
Paul is not involved with Corinth to win their praise or get wealthy. He is involved to change the game. Billy Beane is out to change the game as well. The old way does not bless the poor or the meek. The old way devours these organizations and its players. The new way of life exalts the humble. Moneyball highlights Scott Hatteberg as an example of how this new system works. Hatteberg is a catcher that sustained permanent nerve injury. He can no longer throw the ball. When his contract lapsed, no one wanted him. Beane and Brand analyze his on-base percentage. His talent in this one area adds value to the team. The other ball clubs see a a broken and useless player. Beane sees a player that knows how to get on base. But he cannot play catcher anymore, so they move him to first base. He does not pick it up right away. Beane’s approach embodies the way of Jesus taught by Paul. Beane uses commitment (think faithful love, khesed) and edification to transform rejected ball players into a movement that will change the game; for Paul, it is movement that will change the way we do life together. We are a community, a team. Superstars and traditional thinking will not lead us where Messiah is taking us. We adapt to His life, or die.
The 2002 Athletics only won 5 of 16 games at one stretch. Beane became a pariah in Oakland. His moves were vilified by the scouts and broadcasters. His coach was not playing according to the system Beane and Brand devised. He continued to put in their star player instead of Hatteberg. Players of the old way were corrupting the new way. The coach not only allowed this, he instigated this rebellion. He did not buy in to Beane’s philosophy. The solution was to cut the superstars and leave the coach no other option. Brand was concerned about explaining the decision. This would act would not assuage the angst of Oakland. How do you explain something as unpopular as cutting a star from a crumbling ball club?
We’re worried about explaining when all we have to decide is whether we believe it or not.
Beane comes into the office with Brand and starts making phone calls. He asks Brand, “What are we doing here? Do you believe in this thing or not?” They cut the player, make a trade, and tell the coach. From that point on, there was no choice but to be all-in. We’re worried about explaining when all we have to decide is whether we believe it or not. If you believe it, cut away the old way of thinking, circumcise your heart, and get on with it. Put your full weight on the ground of what you say you believe. What is your weight- your kavod (glory in Hebrew)- resting on? Put all of your status, reputation, finances, whatever- entrust it all to Jesus and accept His way of doing things. Is He telling the truth or not? If this is real, show me, don’t tell me. Don’t explain it, exemplify it!
Acting on what you fully believe, despite criticism and loss, bears the fruit of the truth on which you act. If it is true, then the evidence will bear that out. However, if you doubt, you will never know if it is true or not because you never really tested it. I can use Bernoulli’s equation to explain the lift of an airplane, but until I get on the plane, I never really believe it. As in Corinth and in Oakland, you do not really believe until it requires a break from the gravity of the old way of life. You do not really believe a boat can carry you across the water until you get in and leave sight of the land. If you are still bound to the rules of earth, you cannot enter into the realm of heaven. CS Lewis expresses the same idea in A Grief Observed:
You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong and sound as long as you are merely using it to cord a box. But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a precipice. Wouldn't you then first discover how much you really trusted it?”
2 Corinthinans has instruction for those in Corinth to supply from their riches to those who lack. Simultaneously, they must realize they lack something that other communities can supply them. We all have gifts. Jean Vanier said that we are the gift. Deuteronomy 6, the shema, calls us to love God with heart, soul, and me’od (“muchness”). This is equivalent to being all-in. Each of us has much of something. Each of us lacks something. The way of Jesus is a way that allows us to be vulnerable to one another and supply each other from the area of our muchness, to complement another’s lack. In this way, we love God by loving each other well. This way flips the world of self-sufficiency on its head. It honors its poverty and humility, the need for another; the old way sees these as shame, instead honoring wealth, boasting, and independence. The way of Jesus is the way of interdependence, fixated on the faithful love of Jesus who reproduces His love in each of us for the benefit of one another.
Following Jesus is a simple matter of trusting that the way He said to do life is the way of human flourishing. It is fascinating to study it and parse out the nuance and connections throughout scripture, after all, it is exquisitely beautiful. We spend so much time trying to teach the right things and explain things that require no explanation. The requirement is trust. Here is the kicker though, we do not have to worry about explaining it; our chief responsibility is executing it. Do it. Put your full weight on the way of Jesus. Step into His boat and lose sight of the land. Grab onto His rope and leap off the cliff. Fire all of your superstars. What are we doing here?
Once the team was all-in, the Oakland Athletics went on to set an American League record with a 20 game winning streak. They made it into post-season play, but did not advance past the American League Division Series. However, their success with a limited budget and undervalued players did change the game- not just for baseball, but for other professional sports as well. Had Beane not put his reputation and career on the line by shifting from explaining to executing, the truth of his assertion would be unknown.
“Shoveling Snow with Buddha” is a poem by Billy Collins that illustrates the idea of simply doing rather than explaining. Much of our effort to explain is lost energy, better used by simply harnessing it to do what must be done. There is rest in this. Jesus can explain when the time is right. There is plenty of reserve energy when the focus is the task and the person before us. Explaining takes you away from your purpose- “becoming love (Love Always, Bob Goff).”
He has thrown himself into shoveling snow
as if it were the purpose of existence,
as if the sign of a perfect life were a clear driveway
you could back the car down easily
and drive off into the vanities of the world
with a broken heater fan and a song on the radio.
All morning long we work side by side,
me with my commentary
and he inside his generous pocket of silence,
until the hour is nearly noon
and the snow is piled high all around us;
“Believing in Jesus” is an enigmatic phrase of Christianity. Yes, as Jesus followers, we must believe Him or we are not followers. Like Paul, seeing Jesus is where this all begins. Paul was not persuaded by rhetoric. He did not lose a Twitter argument with proof text. He encountered Jesus and Jesus people. He was humbled, forgiven, accepted, nurtured, and protected- even though he was a murderous enemy. Paul exhorted the Corinthians to follow his example, as he followed the example of Jesus. The community of Jesus will flourish, but not with pomp, bravado, or luxury. It will only flourish when weakness leans into another and the love of Christ joins your hearts together. It flourishes when strength is not used for personal glory, but to lift the hands of another and allowing another to lift you.
Here are some ways of going all-in:
Notice. We must see the hurting around us without turning away. We all hurt, but not in the same ways. The old system devalues this pain. The way of Jesus sees it as framework from which a New Kingdom can emerge.
Enter. Jesus entered the space of the hurting, coming alongside them.
Dignify. Jesus gave dignity to the hurting by asking them what He could do for them. He did not just walk in and say, “Oh, you’re blind. Ok, you need to see.” He offered a generous pocket of silence for them to enter. He was a gift to them and they a gift to Him.
Supply. From our muchness, whatever that may be for you, give to the one in need. If you have financial resources, give that. If you have encouragement, lift up the discouraged. Quarantine and social distancing have left many feeling alone. Give togetherness with a phone call, ZOOM call, or a letter. To the one without hope, hear their fear and anxiety. Go alongside them. Give them dignity. Give them a generous pocket of silence. Give only the words necessary to encourage them.
Receive. Everyone has a muchness and everyone has a void. The way of Christ is acknowledging that which the old way would hide and cover-up as shameful.
Trust. Jesus demonstrated and taught us how to be new humans. Following Him is exactly what Paul encourages the Jesus communities to do. Read the Sermon on the Mount, mediate upon it, and then allow the Spirit of Christ to animate your heart and mind with this imagination. The process of being filled with the Spirit is very much like the generous pocket of silence. It is listening and responding with your body. It is seeing a driveway covered in snow and shoveling. It is practical and it is ethereal. It is doing, not explaining.
Relationship. We are all connected to one another. Isaiah 66 and Genesis 12 point to the promise that Paul points to in his epistles: Messiah gathers all people groups together as a unified family and the very dwelling of God’s glory. This unity is predicated upon putting our full weight on Jesus, which is to be “in Him.” If we want to be Jesus communities, if we want to change the game, if we want to play ball New Kingdom style- we must develop a relationship with one another that is predicated upon our relationship with the living Jesus.
There were breaches in the community in Corinth and there are breaches today. The splinters are from a duplicitous aim of clinging to a comfortable old system (especially for those at the top) while simultaneously claiming a new way that upends this power game. The system that marches in cadence with the principalities and powers will build castles, not kingdoms. In Love Always, Bob Goff describes castles as small circles with moats and walls designed to keep people out and preserve the power and wealth of the few. A kingdom expands in an engulfing circle that gathers. For this purpose, this is a sufficient distinction. A world fractured by self-protection and self-interest inevitably finds self-destruction. In our communal spaces, let us invite the kingdom of heaven to change the rules of the kingdom of earth. Let us fire the superstar traits and valuation criteria of the old system- cut it away. Let there be nothing left but broken players and dry bones. Starting over with dry bones, the Body of Christ will rise up. In our spaces, may the Exodus 34 glory of God dwell and rest with us. May Christ be the reference point to which all our broken, diverse, and abutting fragments conform- not political parties, not denominations, nationalities, dialects, flags, or whatever we would allow to rip apart what Christ is joining together. What God has joined together, let no man tear apart.
