Building the Brotherhood Challenge (Bot9 #280)

Sports are a great opportunity to build community. However, because they involve competition, it can often bring out the negative side of humanity. As believers in Jesus, we have the opportunity to impact our communities and culture.

In his new book, The Infinite Game, Simon Sinek outlines the rules for Finite and Infinite games. Finite games have a certain number of players and a defined beginning and end. Infinite games have players who come and go and no definite endpoint. There are no winners or losers. While a single baseball game has a clear winner and loser, building communities through baseball represents the Infinite Game.

In Romans 12:2, Paul encourages us to not conform to the patterns of the world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Sinek’s views on the Infinite and Finite game allow us to renew our mind and bring Jesus to the baseball world by building the brotherhood in that community. Yes, there will always be a defined winner and loser in a given competition, but we can all pursue connection by seeing baseball as an Infinite Game.

With this in mind, I’m sending this call of action to anyone with ears to hear. It’s time for us to place as much of an emphasis on the Infinite Game as we do the Finite game. Here’s the challenge to all coaches, players, and parents in the baseball community. There are four levels of this challenge:

Single: Call an opposing coach, player, or parent the day before the game
Double: Pray with the opposition after the game - coaches, players, and parents
Triple: Meet with and pray with your parent community before every game
Home Run: Pregame high five between the two teams

You might need to start by hitting a bunch of singles this year. Maybe you’re able to hit a double when you’re playing a private school as a public school coach. The triple might feel a long way away, but look at it like a pregame press conference. It’s an opportunity for you to share your visions for that day with the parent community. A home run might feel impossible, but I’ve seen this done in the Dominican Republic. Why not build in more of the Infinite into the Finite?

In the eight years since we started point people to the "Around the Mound" postgame prayer, we've seen people and communities transform. I'm looking forward to seeing when this challenge does in the lives of people in the baseball community as they seek to bring the Infinite and eternal into simple, Finite games!