Last night, Judith and I and a group from Faith Family Church were privileged to attend the 50th anniversary banquet of the Westminster Rescue Mission (WRM). The featured speaker for the evening was former baseball slugger Darryl Strawberry, whose 17 years in the majors led to four world championships, one with the Mets and three with the Yankees. While his 6’6” frame strikes an imposing physical presence, his heart for God makes him an even more imposing spiritual presence. Listening to his testimony, I came away with three distinct lessons.

1. Same thing, only different.

Whenever you hear another believer’s testimony of how they came to know Jesus, it’s the same thing as your own testimony, only different. In other words, we all come to salvation the same way: the Holy Spirit convicts and draws us and there is repentance and faith, and we are born again. This is why Jude calls it “our common salvation.” It’s only the circumstances that are different. How you came to know the Lord is unique in terms of the life experiences that eventually led you to faith in Christ. Darryl’s path from fame and fortune to drug abuse and jail time to salvation may be radically diverse from our own story, but in the final analysis, we all are saved by grace through faith.

2. Forgiveness is for us.

Darryl’s story struck a chord in my heart because, like me, he had “father issues.” At one point he almost killed his dad; at one point in my life, I wanted to kill mine. He spoke of the anger and resentment that alienated him from his father. I could identify. Darryl felt he could never forgive his father, and yet the Lord brought him to see the forgiveness he himself had received. By God’s grace, a day came when Darryl knelt before his father and, weeping on his knees, asked his forgiveness. And then right there he had the joy of leading his dad to faith in Christ. Coming away from that experience, Darryl realized that the forgiveness he extended to his father wasn’t just for his dad, but for him as well. It freed him to help someone else.

God’s transforming grace empowers us to forgive, and through that forgiveness, we find wholeness and joy for ourselves.

I was reminded of my own story and how God’s transforming grace empowers us to forgive, and through that forgiveness, we find wholeness and joy for ourselves. I will ever be grateful to God for restoring the relationship I had with my dad and redeeming those terrible years of animosity and anger. As Christians, we forgive because we’ve been forgiven, and when we forgive we experience a great liberation of soul.

3. God uses people to help people.

Darryl Strawberry is an ordained minister and now travels the country sharing his story of the transforming grace of Jesus Christ. His appeal to us last night was to invest in helping others because “God is crazy about people.” As he spoke, I was impressed with his heart and it was evident that God’s hand is on this man. His involvement in ministry for those broken through addiction flows out the memory of his own bondage. He challenged us to make a difference in your community by helping those who are broken and getting involved with ministries like the WRM.

I am very thankful that Faith Family Church has partnered with the rescue mission and is actively involved in ministry there. Yet, I believe God wants us to do more. Perhaps you could help. Would you be willing to invest your life in serving those whose lives have been destroyed by drugs and alcohol? Is the Lord calling you to such ministry? Remember, the church is not a hotel, existing for the comfort of those attending. Rather, it’s a hospital for the broken and, the truth of the matter is, we’re all in recovery.