Small Markets, Big Stories (Bot9 #289)
My favorite team is a big-market team. There are some cool things that come with big markets. I love visiting the city for a series and feeling the buzz. There are fans everywhere with a ton of people writing and talking about the game the night before in preparation for that night’s game. There’s nothing cooler than waking up in the hotel, eating breakfast in a bustling cafe, and reading through pages of content about the game you watched and the game you will watch. In a big market, everything is on a platter for you.
I live in a small market city. There are some cool things that come with a small market, too, but it’s a different vibe. The interest level in the team is different because there’s more to overcome. You watch great players, or even role players, get picked off your roster by the teams in larger markets (DJ Lemahieu sure was fun to watch). A movement like Moneyball could only come from a small-market team attempting to survive the inevitable purge while desiring to compete. Small markets produce big stories.
Jesus was keenly aware of this tension between big and small markets. He taught the Parable of the Mustard Seed where he highlights that though that particular seed is one of the smallest, if grows to one of the largest plants in the garden (Matthew 13:31-32, Mark 4:30-32, and Luke 13:18-19). Jesus spoke about the vast field and the few workers preparing for the harvest (Matthew 9:35-38). Even Jesus was doubted because he came from a town of about 400 as Nathanael said, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46) We see one of Christ’s shortest parables, another metaphor with few workers, and Jesus coming from a small town as further examples of small markets producing big stories.
I was recently asked by a friend who coaches baseball at Christian school to recommend collegiate baseball programs with coaches who are following Christ. A couple came to mind and I reached out to those coaches for more recommendations. It seems that the baseball world is like the harvest field where the harvest is plenty but the workers are few. This past week, however, I was encouraged by a conversation I had with a coach at a Power 5 school. He’s a believer but I didn’t learn this until our third conversation. It’s not that there aren’t people working the harvest field, it’s that they have to be wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove (Matthew 10:16) in their environment.
I was left to wonder this as I write this week: what can come from a high school baseball coach in Highlands Ranch, Colorado? Maybe it’s providing an ear for coaches to talk openly about their faith. Maybe it’s connecting young people with coaches who also want to follow Jesus as they experience worship through the game. Maybe it’s just encouraging a few people every week with connections between the game and their faith. Whatever it may be, I know small markets can produce God-sized stories.