The ministry of amiable nicks

EVANSTON, Ill. (BP) — The other evening, we headed north to Milwaukee to take in a Cubs game at Miller Park, and something strange happened: The Cubs won. The evening was a joy – in a beautiful park with friendly people.

One experience stands out – hearing the intro music for Brewers outfielder Gabe Gross. Gross’ choice was both familiar and arresting: it was “Blessed Be Your Name” by Beth and Matt Redman. As in “Blessed be the name of the Lord ...” No kidding.

When I got back to Evanston, I checked this out on the Internet. Sure enough, Gross was an outspoken Christian from Auburn University. And, of course, he was taking his hits in the blogosphere. For instance, somebody calling himself “Smoove D” wrote the following:

“I was at the game tonight, and I couldn’t believe what I was hearing when Gabe Gross came up to bat. It sounded like some kind of Christian rock [mess] ...’ I know the players pick their own music, meaning I like Gross a little less now.”

Smoove D was taken aback by the response he got from folks pleased with Gross’ choice. For example, apostrophe-challenged “MBrewCrewOnWinTrack” wrote back:

“Praise the Lord! I love that in [Gross].... Get over it. I respect him and like him more now if that is what it was! He has his convictions and you have yours. If it motivates him ... fine.”

The music segment was a little thing, perhaps 10 seconds long, but it made a difference. You might say it was a slight razor nick on the prevailing secularity. Not a full-framed apologetic for the Christian faith but a good word for the Lord.

The next morning in our hotel room, I was reminded of the devil’s program of nicks. Sharon and I were sharing the Gideon Bible when we discovered stickers pasted therein by some vandal: One read “No Gods. No Masters,” the other, “Keep State & Church Separate.”

They were small stuff, but they could nick the spirit. Of course, given our background, they only stirred our resolve, but imagine the impressionable non-believer turning to this copy of the Word.

The devil does this sort of thing all the time: little digs in movies, tiny slices on magazine covers, wounding words in conversation, all meant to diminish the honor and influence of biblical Christianity.

We often frame spiritual warfare in terms of wielding the sword of truth and charging the gates of hell. But we shouldn’t discount the toll that paper cuts and pin pricks can have on the morale of those serving or enabling the enemy. If a 10-second music clip can send Smoove D huffing and puffing to his keyboard, so can a bowed head and brief prayer before a restaurant meal.

In that vein, our church took to the streets one Sunday afternoon recently. Having discovered that at least a dozen Evanston streets were named for serious, 19th-century Methodists, we decided to visit them one by one, letting the residents know about their namesake’s gospel convictions.

We started on Hinman Avenue, named for Clark Hinman, the first president of Northwestern University. (Unfortunately, he died before the first class was held.) On our flyer, we ran a quote from one of his sermons, and, for good measure, we made reference to excerpts from John 1:14 (in Greek) and Philippians 4:8 (in Latin) on the Northwestern seal.

We didn’t expect full-scale revival to break out by supper, but we did hope to plant some seeds for inquiry. The response was warm since many Evanstonians are history buffs who are proud of their local university. But I know there was some offense in what we were doing.

By quoting Hinman on the gospel and the Holy Spirit, we were sure to trouble a number of our neighbors. And I couldn’t help think of the relative affluence of Hinman Avenue, filled with grand homes not far from Lake Michigan.

It can be such a comfortable, godless existence. At least, that is, until some Southern Baptist shows us to give your insular materialism or vague “spirituality” a nick.