Most of us have seen this…sometime during a baseball game the jumbo screen flashes to a couple and the fans all watch as a young man gets out a small box with a big ring and asks his girlfriend to marry him. And after they hug and kiss, the fans in the stands erupt into thunderous cheers and applause.
Well, a few years ago, during a big game between two huge rivals, the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, in the bottom of the ninth, a young man got down on his knee right behind home plate and proposed in front of national TV and not one word was spoken. Here’s what captured my attention…that this proposal of marriage didn’t capture anyone else’s attention. Only a handful of fans applauded. The players didn’t notice. The announcers were silent. The peanut vendors kept selling their peanuts. I’m not an alarmist, but I can’t help but see this as a commentary on the state of marriage in our present day culture. Statistics reveal that marriage is on the decline. It’s mocked in our media and feared by an emerging generation. This trend should concern all of us who profess to be Christians. The unbreakable covenant relationship between a husband and wife is the most powerful earthly picture of God’s unconditional love for us. Jesus is the bridegroom and we, the church, are His bride.
When marriage is minimized, mocked and maligned, the image, nature and character of God is too. So let’s be thinking about what we can do as married couples to show the “fans” in our spheres of influence what the love of God looks like lived out in front of them. For the record, the batter grounded out. Let’s pray that this young couple hits a home run.
