For His Glory   

 Pastor Tom Marker

We’ve been talking a lot about discipleship and counting the cost to follow Jesus Christ in these early days and weeks of 2010.  So what does it look like for someone to choose Christ and forsake the world?  Might look something like Grant Desme.

Who?  Exactly.  Not a name that registers immediately or maybe never.  With all the attention in the news with Massachusetts elcting a Republican Senator for the first time since 1972 and the devastation in Haiti, it is conceivable we missed the announcement from the Oakland A’s prospect.

He’s exchanging his cleats for a cleric’s collar.

Desme was MVP of the 2009 Arizona Fall League, a gathering place for baseball's best young players. People were beginning to wonder when, not if, the outfielder would be a major league ballplayer as he had a rare combination of power and speed.

But all Desme kept thinking about was whether he really wanted it.

For many baseball players, plush travel, easy access to attractive women and fame are accoutrements to the major league experience. To Desme, 23, they loomed like scary tests of his faith, a serpent coiled on a branch.

"It takes a lot to be under those circumstances and to live a virtuous life or stay faithful, so I don't know if I could have done it," Desme told ESPN. "I never really was in it, but it was one of the things I thought a lot about over this past year."

"Deep down, I think I knew it was the right decision," Grant Desme said. "I can't explain the peace and joy I've experienced from making it."  From the media, dismay was more the reaction.

Desme said he wasn't looking for attention when he made his announcement, but he has welcomed the spotlight on his faith.

"That in itself is almost miraculous," Desme said.

He enters the abbey in August, just about the time he might have been pushing for his first taste of the major leagues in Oakland.

What kind of player would Desme have become? His ability was obvious. He was the only player in the minor leagues to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases last year.

I salute Desme. Many of us may have wavered, trying to play ball while following Christ. And some have done so and done so faithfully. But that isn’t the path Desme chose. 

May the Lord bless Grant and his ministry. And may we count the cost of following Christ in our own lives.

[portions of this article borrowed from an article written by ESPN.com reporter Mark Saxon.]