Go For a Single
Apologist J Warner Wallace once wrote that when Christians discuss their faith with friends, family, or strangers, they shouldn’t try to go for a ‘home run,’ that one argument so amazing and so powerful that the other person converts then and there on the spot. Instead, he urged them to just try for a single and have faith that someone, somewhere, at some time in the future, would hit another single, and then another, until finally that person was brought home.
I worked with my friend Jon for four years. We were on the same team, talked every day, and became dads around the same time. Jon is a great guy, and I enjoyed working with him. One day, he gave his two weeks’ notice. I wasn’t shocked, but then he told me why he was leaving. He was going to be a pastor at his church. That did shock me.
I had vaguely known Jon to be a Christian but never gave it any thought. He never preached at anyone, never tried to push his faith on anyone. He just went about life as a good man that people respected. We never talked about religion. At the time, I probably could have counted all the Christians I knew on one hand.
He and I kept in touch, sharing photos of our kids and joking about work. Maybe a year or two after he had left, I pretty much accidentally bumped into Christianity and went down the rabbit hole of reading, listening, and trying to figure out what this figure of Jesus was really all about. It was fascinating, but like I said, I didn’t really know any Christians. Almost embarrassed to ask, I texted Jon one day and asked if we could meet up, get dinner, and he would let me pick his brain. I don’t think I even really told him what it was about. I was so nervous to actually talk to someone about this.
With patience worthy of a saint, Jon let me dump all these thoughts, ideas, and questions onto him. He and I stood in a freezing parking lot for hours as he fielded them one by one when he needed to, and at other times, he just let me think out loud by talking. What really got me was when I asked him something difficult, one of those questions that people have always struggled with, and he would honestly say, “I don’t know.” There was a lot he did know, an absolute ton, and he eloquently articulated what he believed and why. However, he was also comfortable enough to say he didn’t know why or how something was. At the end of our talk, he told me that he thought it was awesome that I was asking these questions, and instead of trying to hit a home run then and there, he encouraged me to keep reading.
Well, I did. I read, listened, talked, and thought. Jon kept encouraging me. Just like Wallace wrote, somewhere down the line, someone else hit a single and moved me a bit closer. The people that greeted me the first day I walked into Christ Church Anglican and made me want to come back the next week, hit a single. Father Chase hit a single over coffee, and Deacon Bree hit a single in Via (ok, she probably hit half a dozen in that class. I guess there aren’t just 4 bases in this game, but as many as it takes). Eventually, to paraphrase CS Lewis, I gave in and admitted that God was God, and prayed.
Jon’s patience, kindness, humility, and friendship opened the doors for me, and all he had to do was be the good guy he is. For that, I’m eternally grateful.
For anyone reading this, if you ever have a friend, a loved one, a coworker, or a stranger ask you about your faith, remember you don’t have to hit the home run. Take the Jon approach, be happy to talk with them, and be humble. Hitting a single is more than enough, and be confident that God will line up the next batter and the next.
Pete Schaeffer