Freedom

Galatians 5:1
(1) For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Josh Hamilton has done much damage to his witness for the gospel recently. He admitted that the wild party photos of him are legitimate. Drunk or no, what he was doing was not acceptable no matter how you look at it.

Now as a Christian as well as someone who has come out of a couple of enslaving habits I certainly can extend grace to Josh. I know what it's like to stumble. I haven't done it quite on that scale, but I certainly know what it's like.

The problem is that the world doesn't understand this. Now I'm not about to say that everyone's salvation is dependent on Josh's sobriety. However, I do know that his Jesus-talk took a big hit in the eyes of the watching world.

What upsets me is that I don't think he has the mindset of a freed person. He speaks of "recovery" all the time. He still uses the language of addiction. He does not speak of being free. I realize that there is a semantics issue here too. However, I wish that he would acknowledge that Christ came to set him free and not just to manage his sin.

I don't want to pile on Josh. He got cocky and thought that he could take some liberties. It happens to everyone sometimes. However, I also hope that he realizes what comes from the big stage he has. I also hope he can get past the injuries he has and get back into his baseball groove that he enjoyed last year.