Thank you Major League Baseball. You gave me a new insight into Deuteronomy this morning. I’m referring, of course, to the current MLB controversy when players were required to wear PRIDE hats and some wrote Bible verses on them.
The passage was Deuteronomy 10:12–11:25. Here’s the Verse for the Week:
“What does the Lord your God ask of you except to fear the Lord your God by walking in all his ways, to love him, and to worship the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul? Keep the Lord’s commands and statutes I am giving you today, for your own good.” Deuteronomy 10:12–13 (CSB)
The big idea: love and worship the Lord with all your heart and soul. Simple enough. So what does this have to do with Major League Baseball?
God goes on to say: “Imprint these words of mine on your hearts and minds, bind them as a sign on your hands, and let them be a symbol on your foreheads.” Deuteronomy 11:18 (CSB) — so that your children will believe too (vv. 19–21).
Now, this doesn’t mean tattooing God’s commands on your forehead. It means keeping His Word in your mind and living it out in what you do. Some Christians also wear apparel with scripture on it. Some orthodox Jews still place scripture passages in small boxes worn on the left arm and forehead during morning prayers. The point is: what we put on our heads and hands can be a form of worship, love and obedience. It can be figuratively in what we think and do, or literally in what we wear. It is a way to hand down our faith to the next generation.
There’s at least one other passage about writing things on hands and heads.
When the “beast” — commonly called the Antichrist — rules the world, he will require “everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead… Its number is 666.” Revelation 13:16–18 (CSB).
Now, I’m NOT saying that Major League Baseball converts to 666 in Greek numerology (although spreading that rumor might get me more clicks.) What I AM saying is that for a Christian ball player to be required to wear a PRIDE hat is more than a wardrobe choice. The MLB may not realize it, but for Christians, it’s a form of worship to a false god by celebrating what the Bible identifies as sinful behavior. The rest of Deuteronomy 11 warns us that this worship can get handed down to our children with serious consequences. So it’s a big deal for us. The MLB is not the Antichrist, but it is acting in that spirit. And the players putting a Bible verse on the hat? That was a simple, creative act of following Deuteronomy 11 by worshipping, loving, and obeying the God of the Bible.
Really, the whole mess has brought these scriptures to light in a new way for me, and that is encouraging. Thanks MLB.
Our Verse for the Week:
“What does the Lord your God ask of you except to fear the Lord your God by walking in all his ways, to love him, and to worship the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul? Keep the Lord’s commands and statutes I am giving you today, for your own good.” Deuteronomy 10:12–13 (CSB)
Be encouraged,
Dan
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