Baseball superstar Albert Pujols is back in the news (and Generous Matters) as he signs a 10-year, $254 million deal that’s stunned Cardinal fans and set Evangelicals’ tongues wagging (again). After months of speculation, Pujols has traded the squawking of angry Cardinals for the sweet sound of Angels.
The folks in Anaheim spotted their star in the east and did what they needed to do to bring him west – with a little help from God.
“I know people in the city of St. Louis think it’s all about money,” Yahoo Sports quotes Pujols as saying. “I have all the offers out there where people are throwing me a bunch of money . . . But when that decision came, I was being obedient. I didn’t want to go to a place that God wasn’t calling me to go.”
Yet not everyone is convinced Pujols heard God right.
Some worry that a $250 million contract could compromise his Christian witness. Case in point: a Christianity Today blog post that quotes Scott Lamb, co-author of Pujols: More Than a Game, as saying, “I do think it will hurt what people perceive to be his Christian testimony. I’m not saying it’s the way it should be, but I think it will.”
VOICES FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY
If, however, comments in response to the CT article represent the majority opinion, Pujols and his Christian witness have nothing about which to worry. Here’s a sampling.
The income really doesn’t matter, and it shouldn’t. What he does with his income will tell the tale. Is his devotion to the Lord seen in abundant generosity? The family foundation is a great beginning; the amounts given, and to which causes, will prove (or not) his godly dedication or his self-centeredness.
The important thing is what he does with the money. If he continues to help children with Down Syndrome and gives even more of his money to that cause and other worthwhile causes that bring glory to God, I have no problem with his earnings at all. It’s the person who has greed and retains everything for their own self-gratification that gives wealthy people a bad name.
Good for Albert! I’m a life-long Cardinal fan and a Christian pastor, and I’m very happy for him. Baseball is a business, and Albert deserves whatever the market will bring. Knowing his track record, I’m sure that he will give generously from the abundance that God has provided. . . God Bless Albert Pujols!
Back in March, I cited Pujols’ biographer as predicting that “he will go down in history as one of the great ones—someone who grabbed the money and gave it away at the same time.” How angelic.