“The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him” (2 Chronicles 16:9). Pirates manager Clint Hurdle begins every day with that verse.
Tonight was the Pirates’ first Faith Night. Hopefully I can soon say annual. They prayed about this: for a good turnout, that everything would go smoothly, that it would be allowed to happen. And it did. Maybe some of you stuck around for it. I’ve been looking forward to it since I first heard of it.
Pedro Alvarez, Alex Presley, Neil Walker, Josh Harrison, Jeff Banister, Dave Jauss, Charlie Morton, Jordy Mercer, Mark Melancon, Jay Bell, and Clint Hurdle all attended. Also there were the Pirates’ chaplains, Brad Henderson and Spanish chaplain Jesus Zeus Origel. Not everyone spoke. Also, as Henderson added, “Our true spiritual leader, Michael McKenry, can’t be here tonight.”
Cutch answers questions
Andrew McCutchen started off the night by answering questions from a few kids. My favorite was the kid who asked him how many times he’s read the Bible and how often he reads it. Cutch’s response? “Not enough.” He then spoke about how his mother and girlfriend keep him accountable. His mother sends him devotions to read, and he and his girlfriend read them together. Right now they’re going through Psalm 23.
Cutch was also asked his favorite verse. His favorite Bible verse is Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” I’ll let Cutch tell the rest (My apologies in advance: the video isn’t the greatest, but the audio is good. Just don’t go full screen.):
After Cutch’s Q&A session, Henderson spoke a bit about the Pirates’ Chapel. When they’re home, there is a Bible study for the players before every game. Then there’s one for the coaches. Then, one for the visiting team if they’re interested. It’s a good way to keep the players grounded in their faith during the busy routine of a baseball season. The player’s wives and girlfriends also have their own Bible study.
Henderson spoke to Mark Melancon and Jay Bell about their faith and how it’s influenced their baseball career.
Melancon then took some time to speak. He talked about how he knows he couldn’t get through any of this without God.
“If you don’t have Jesus Christ in your life, I honestly don’t know how you do it.” —Mark Melancon
My favorite quote of the night came from him: “If you don’t have Jesus Christ in your life, I honestly don’t know how you do it.” I admire Melancon greatly. He’s soft-spoken and when he does speak, it’s well thought-out, careful, and valuable. Not to mention he rocks as the Pirates’ closer.
Then it was Clint Hurdle’s turn to share. He was vulnerable and honest. He shared his story of faith and how God has changed his life. He said how when he committed his life to God, God also made a commitment to him. Slowly, God showed him that he wasn’t the center of the world. It hasn’t been a walk with God, he said, it’s been an obstacle course.
At first, he compared his relationship with God to an ATM. He would go to God, get filled up by God, and then, when everything seemed good, he would turn back to relying on himself. He brought up the old saying, “I got myself into this mess, I’ll get myself out.” What a genius idea, he said sarcastically. How do we expect that to work?
When he proposed to his wife the first time, she told him no. “I wasn’t used to being told no,” Hurdle said. She told him she loved him but that he had a lot to work on. He realized he needed God and two years later, he proposed again. This time she said yes.
Clint used the age-old stereotype of men never wanting to ask for directions. However, he pointed out, we’re all like that when it comes to life. As Jay Bell said too, there came a point when he realized he couldn’t do life alone anymore. He came to the point of admitting to God (as some men will eventually admit to their wives), “I don’t know where I’m going. Let me pull over and ask for some help.” Then, we realize that just some help isn’t even enough. Then we say, “I’m gonna get in the back seat. Drive.”
That hit home. For those who don’t know, I moved to Pittsburgh, alone, in November of last year. I knew my boss and a few people from twitter, none of them very well. I left my family, my church, my best friend, and the Christian club at my college that I was supposed to be the president of last fall. I came here where I have no accountability partner, no support system. All I have is God.
And yet I choose to ignore Him. I choose to try to do life on my own. I refuse to ask for directions. I pretend I’m strong. I don’t ask for help because I don’t want anyone to know that I’m not as strong as I try to seem to be.
“I was spending money I didn’t have on things I didn’t need to impress people I didn’t like,” Hurdle said.
I think it was more of an analogy than a statement. We spend time on things that don’t matter. We try to impress people that will always let us down, and we place expectations on them that they won’t. Whether they mean to or not, every person we know is imperfect and will let us down. I’ve let people down. I hate that I have, but it’s the truth.
Maybe I’m the ATM user too. I let things get pretty bad before I ask for help. Someone made the observation that even when I was president of my school club, I would “fake it ’til I make it.”
What am I afraid of? That God will see what a mess I am? He knows that. That He won’t be able to clean up the mess I made? He made ME; I’m sure He is aware and in control of any mess I can get myself into, whether I see Him or not. Sometimes I ask for His help or His guidance, and then I don’t wait for it. Instead, I try to figure it out on my own anyway: what I should do or what He wants me to do.
It’s time for me to be quiet and move to the backseat. It’s time for God to drive. I want to be vulnerable like Hurdle, honest like Cutch, and deliberate and meek in what I say and do like Melancon.
“But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness'” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Clint Hurdle ends every day with that verse.
The Nice Guys 
Thank you Melissa for your account of “Faith Night” and I am so impressed that the Pirates Ball Club and the Pirate players did this for the community. It used to be and to a certain extent still is embarrassing to admit that you have a relationship with God and that you actually KNOW HIM! I know when I gave myself to him it made such a difference in my life, it lifted a weight from my shoulders that I never realized was even there and he assured me that I am NOT alone in this world. Yes, even though I am married and have family at times I felt like I was totally alone in this world and from that point on I knew there was ALWAYS someone there with me, to share my troubles, to enjoy my blessings (of which he was the master) and to allow me to make mistakes because as we all know there is only ONE perfect one and it isn’t me! I wish I had been able to attend and listen to the testimony of those who some believe have everything they need why would they ever need to ask God for anything they don’t realize it is from God all of those blessings flow. I never end a day without giving praise to the one person in my life that allowed those blessings to enter my life and it took me a long time to learn where they came from and that I didn’t create them myself and I WASN’T everything I would ever need. Thank you for reporting about this Faith Night and for sharing your own testimony. May God continue to bless you and yours and may the Pirates understand what a wonderful thing they did for all those who attended.
wow, thanks for the recap. i had to work so i couldn’t attend but was really wishing i could. i’m a tour guide at pnc park and when we have the honor of taking folks into the club house i see the christian material guys like cutch and others are reading. it gives me pride to share that our club is so committed to surrounding themselves with men of faith to not only play the right way but to live the right way.
Me and my family were at the game that night. The game itself was a test of endurance and temptation to leave, but the greatest part of the night was yet to come during the faith portion. Thanks for doing such a good job with the article.