Days of Whine and Roses: Hustling Downward

With the recent passing of Pete Rose we are once again debating the merits of whether he should be in the baseball Hall of Fame. He was, by all accounts, one of the greatest to ever play the game. He holds the record for, among other things, most hits in a career. He was, however, banned, in accordance with league rules, from any connection to the game. He had been found guilty of gambling on baseball.

For the last thirty years of his life Rose cut a rather pathetic figure, rejected by the game that he dearly loved. For most of that time he denied any wrongdoing. Eventually, pieces of confession, like wilting rose petals, began to fall. What never happened was full ownership, full confession. He went to his grave apparently believing that his accomplishments should be enough to outweigh his failures. That he deserved a spot in the Hall of Fame.

There are a few ways that I see myself in Pete Rose. While I was always a country mile away from him in terms of athletic talent, I shared with him a passion for the sport, a dependence on out hustling the other guy. Intensity has always been the name of my game. Second, like him, I’m prone to thinking too highly of myself. I too struggle with pride.

There is, however, a potent difference as well. Though I of course can’t begin to guess the state of the man’s soul at the time of his death, I am well aware that my accomplishments could never outweigh my failures.

In fact, I know, because the Bible tells me so, that even my accomplishments are failures (Isaiah 64:6). Failures cannot outweigh failures. As such, I’ve already been inducted into the only hall that ultimately matters, the Hall of Faith. Even that had to be given to me.
“Everybody deserves a second chance” is worldly “wisdom” born of the fact that everybody needs a second, and third and fourth, ad infinitum chance. We don’t, however, deserve any such thing. We deserve judgment, exclusion, induction into the Hall of Shame. We are not showing compassion when demanding someone else’s second chance but a woeful failure to understand the difference between justice and mercy.

God’s mercy isn’t merely a disposition toward forgiveness. Rather it is His sacrificing His only Son so that He might be both just and justifier (Romans 3:26). He is justifier in that He declares we who are not just to be just. But just in doing so because His Son suffered justice in our place. He did not overturn justice in welcoming sinners like us, but fulfilled it.

My hope is not that Pete Rose will receive mercy from Major League Baseball. My hope is that he has already received mercy from his Maker. If he has, he carries no sorrow over his exclusion from the temple of the baseball gods. Rather he would be rejoicing to be in the presence of the living God, and laying down his crowns before Him.