As the World Series is set to begin, the biggest story in baseball isn’t the Phillies quest for a repeat title or the resurgence of A-Rod and the Yankees, but it’s the return of Mark McGwire to baseball as a hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals. As expected, many fans are crying foul. Next to Barry Bonds, McGwire is public enemy number two in MLB’s steroid era. News of McGwire’s illegal doping first came to light in Jose Canseco’s book “Juiced.” While McGwire has never failed a drug test, Canseco’s accusation confirmed the widespread suspicions that it was steroids that contributed to his rapid weight gain and 70 home runs. But unlike other players like Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, and Jason Giambi, McGwire has never admitted to taking steroids. Even worse, he has blatently side-stepped the issue when he has been asked about his steroid use and not proclaimed his innocence.
It is this silence that has aroused criticism of the Cardinal’s hiring of McGwire to be their hitting coach. The lead FBI investigator Greg Stejskal had this to say: “It’s basically rewarding a guy who hasn’t stood up and taken a stand against this stuff. There’s been no mea culpa, and instead he became a recluse. It reminds me of a passage from Proverbs: ‘The wicked flee where no man pursueth.'”
The public outrage over Mark McGwire can be traced to both McGwire’s alledged steroid abuse and his refusal to come-clean and repent. The Cardinals have hired a coach who hasn’t “taken responsibility” for his actions. They have shown him grace. The Cardinals have willingly suffered the cost of this public relations nightmare by giving an abandoned transgressor like Mark McGwire new life through a job that allows him to do what he loves.
The Christian understanding of grace is not forgiveness to those who have made amends of their sin or those who properly prepared themselves for grace. But Christian grace is the forgiveness of the wicked (Romans 5:6-10). God does not demand any inclination toward God or movement of our will as a precondition of grace, but freely forgives. Jesus died for all his disciples who abandoned him in the hour of his need (Mark 15:40). As Luther said, “On the part of man, however, nothing precedes grace except indisposition and even rebellion against grace.”
Mark McGwire may be a vile, heartless cheater who destroyed baseball (allegedly), but I hope that he makes a great hitting coach.
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15 responses to “Grace for Mark McGwire?”
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"Almighty God,
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
maker of all things, judge of all men:
We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness,
which we from time to time most grievously have committed,
by thought, word, and deed, against thy divine Majesty,
provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us.
We do earnestly repent,
and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings;
the remembrance of them is grievous unto us,
the burden of them is intolerable.
Have mercy upon us,
have mercy upon us, most merciful Father;
for thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ's sake,
forgive us all that is past;
and grant that we may ever hereafter
serve and please thee in newness of life,
to the honor and glory of thy Name;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
[The Bishop when present, or the Priest, stands and says]
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who of his great mercy hath promised forgiveness of sins to all those who with hearty repentance and true faith turn unto him, have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and bring you to everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
That, my fiends, is the Christian view of grace. Repentance is a necessary part of that grace, but all true repentance is pure gift.
Should that be "friends" not "fiends"? I'm not so sure…. 🙂
He may know how to hit, but what is he going to be teaching the young men of baseball? How to purchase steroids on the black market? It's ok if you don't get caught?
I understand grace and forgiveness, but there comes a time, in this world, where a person is no longer qualified for certain jobs because of their past performance. That applies to pastors, teachers and coaches.
Michael, I sloppily wrote the word "repentance" in its common ethical usage, rather than its Reformation usage referring to faith.
As such, the statement should read "God does not demand [something on our part] as a precondition of grace, but freely forgives."
Todd,
What makes you think the Steroid era is over in Baseball?
🙂
Todd– I agree with the Reformation idea that God's grace alone produces the repentance that His grace requires, and that we can therefore say, as you have said, that God does not, in the ultimate sense, require anything on our part as a precondition to His grace. If we just flatly say that repentance has NO part in God's grace, then we are Universalists, plain and simple. God is gracious to ALL, the repentant and the unrepentant and the not-yet-on-this-side-of-glory-repentant (and not just in a "common grace" way). I suspect that may be the position of some who hang around this blog. I don't know and they ain't sayin. Or maybe they might…
It might be better to say that repentance is not sufficient for salvation, but it is necessary.
Michael, I didn't know that Karl Barth hung around Mockingbird? Maybe he's the one who anonymously posts all those Gospel (then) Law comments…
I would of course agree that faith/repentance is necessary to salvation, but that the grace and promise of the Gospel is necessary to create faith.
Have to agree with Larry, for the most part. Also – is it really grace if the person/group extending it has a financial stake in the outcome of the exchange?
When God showed his grace on the Cross, it required Jesus' life. All the Cardinals (or the Eagles, or the Bills, etc.) are having to give up is a week's worth of publicity. If their "grace" pays off, they get a spot in the playoffs. Seems sort of cheap to me.
Todd–The Karl Barth dig was way too smart for me to understand. Is he the guy who wrote Rite I?
Michael, Karl Barl was one of the greatest theologians in the 20th century, who ardently fought against 19th century ethical liberalism. But he was also a universalist in that he thought that Christ died for all.
Mich, you're right that the steriod era isn't over, just ask Manny Ramirez! Whose to say that there was never steriods in baseball?
Matt, You're right that McGwire will be contributing to the success of the oraganization by being a good coach. But it is striking to me that Tony LaRussa would stick his neck out and hire a guy with so much baggage. There are hundreds of people who could have had that job without adding any drama, but LaRussa insisted on McGwire. It's rumored that LaRussa put his job on the line for McGwire to be hired as coach. It makes no logical sense, but then again, grace never makes sense.
The problem is that even if LaRussa stuck his neck out, he'll benefit if it works. There is no risk/reward with the Gospel. We are still losers (see Capon), still miserable offenders and Christ died for us. He gets NOTHING in return but sheer delight. I see the analogy to a point, but it's just not on the same level.
Mark McGwire needs someone in his ear saying, "JUST SAY THAT WHAT YOU DID WASN'T BANNED AT THE TIME! YOU REGRET IT, BUT JUST WANTED TO BE THE BEST."
Todd: little correction on your comments about Barth: he didn't explicitly teach universalism. When directly asked by someone if he believed in universalism, he replied "I do not preach universalism; and I do not not preach universalism"
It's a hard critique to follow through with because while there is plenty to defend the critique within his writings, there is just as much to argue against it. the biggest problem is that people isolate specific quotes from the the context of his argument…I think the best way to phrase the critique is along these lines: Barth wasn't about to claim that he understood something that was bigger than he was, if God decided that all were elect, then all were elect; but, that's not for us to decide who is and who isn't elect.
but that's me…that's what I would say…