Christianity, pop culture, and Armando Galarraga's imperfect game

Here's what Armando Galarraga's imperfect game means, and what it doesn't.  Sports is a part of pop culture, much like politics and entertainment.  None of pop culture is ultimately important; whatever importance these things have is ascribed to it by us.  At the end of days, and likely much sooner, the details of what happens in these realms will not matter.

That said, pop culture is a spotlight, shining public attention on whatever is in its path.  For the moment that something is in that spotlight, what happens gets a lot of attention, and it says a great deal not only about the subjects who are in the spotlight but about the people who pay attention.

Most of what the pop culture spotlight exposes is not pretty.  I think you could argue that whether the spotlight is positive or negative, it is revealing of character.  Celebrities who seek the attention because they are egocentric.  Criminals being exposed for their misdeeds.  When someone ends up in the spotlight and behaves with grace, humility, and honesty, when they reveal good character, when they act like what we would hope we would act like, it is a surprise.  And that is what happened in the Galarraga incident: the umpire was honest and remorseful about his mistake, and the pitcher was gracious and comforting in response.

There is a temptation for Christians to seize these rare signs of good character and say "That's true Christianity!  That's what our faith is all about!" It is perhaps a reflection of how rare these signs are, and how eager Christians are to help others see how we aspire to live, that this happens.  But it's not necessarily true, and it's not at all fair.

I don't know Galarraga or Joyce.  I don't know why they acted the way they did.  It could be that their character arises from Christian faith, but it might be that they acted that way because they learned from parents or other role models that this is what good behavior is.  It might be that their integrity and their values stem from another faith, or from no faith at all.  And if Christians want to be taken seriously by non-believers, we need to acknowledge that up front.

What Christians can do, and should do, is use these opportunities to talk about why we think these men did God would have wanted them to do.  And maybe Galarraga or Joyce themselves have said or will say such things, I don't know.

Maybe Galrarraga will say "It's easy to be forgiving of Joyce's mistake, not just because I know we're all human and make mistakes, but because I know how important God's forgiveness of my sins is to me and want to do what I can to show others that same sort of grace."  Or "This perfect game would have meant a lot to me, but it's not as important as the fact that God loves me. I work hard as a pitcher because God gave me the gift of throwing a ball fast for some reason, but God gave all of us the ability and the charge to put the needs of others before our own.  And Jim Joyce needs to know I forgive him more than I need to prove I threw a perfect game."

Now that would be something Christians could point to and say, "This is what we're about."