Moneyball is a 2011 movie starring Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Based on the true story of the 2002 Oakland Athletics baseball season, the film insightfully chronicles how A’s general manager, Billy Beane (Pitt), and assistant GM, Peter Brand (Hill), built their team with a limited budget compared to the rest of Major League Baseball. Beane and Brand took a unique approach to scouting and analyzing players based on analytics, stats, and numbers. Instead of buying players or choosing players for the same reasons as every other team, they valued specific analytics, such as on-base percentage. The bottom line is that Beane and Brand decided to think differently and understood that the Oakland A's weren't like every other Franchise. So, they were willing to view players through a unique lens and try a different approach. Major League Baseball had done things a certain way for so long, and they were ready for a change. Here are some of the key lines throughout the movie that capture what they set out to do: Brand: “People who run ball clubs, they think in terms of buying players. Your goal shouldn't be to buy players, your goal should be to buy wins. And in order to buy wins, you need to buy runs. Baseball thinking is medieval.” Beane: “We're going to rethink baseball.” Beane: “We've got to rethink this game.” Beane: “I'm asking you guys to look at this game differently than you've ever looked at it before.” Beane: “What if we've been wrong this whole time about what ingredients manufacture a win?” In the movie, their willingness to fully embrace analytics or sabermetrics is viewed around the league and even in their own clubhouse as a crazy strategy. Despite the criticism and questioning, Beane and Brand stick to their convictions and believe this new direction is best for the team. Then, during the 2002 season, the Oakland A's won 103 games and went on a 20-game winning streak, setting an American League record for most consecutive wins. They don't win the World Series, but their success is admired, leading to future teams embracing their approach, including the Boston Red Sox, who won the World Series in 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018. Overall, it's a memorable sports story and a very entertaining movie, providing an important parallel for us to consider in our lives. In what ways do we need to think differently and change our approach? Are we willing to embrace a new way of making decisions? Just because we do something a certain way for a long time doesn’t mean we can’t change. As followers of Jesus, we are made new and called to think much differently from "the rest of the league." Our approach to life may even be viewed as "crazy" by everyone else, but our standards, values, and goals are not the same. Even when facing opposition, are we willing to stick to our convictions and believe that God's way is best for us? Our daily challenge is to choose between living and thinking as the world does or living according to God's will and purpose. Will we approach our jobs, money, marriage, parenting, and suffering the way everyone else does, or will we take a different approach that aligns with God's design in His Word? Romans 12:2 (NIV) tells us, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.” 1 Peter 4:1-2 (AMP) says, “Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh , arm yourselves with the same purpose , because whoever has suffered in the flesh is done with sin , so that he can no longer spend the rest of his natural life living for human appetites and desires, but for the will and purpose of God.” Today, just like Billy Beane and the A’s “rethink baseball” in the movie Moneyball, let’s be encouraged to trust Jesus to help us “rethink life,” renew our minds, and approach every decision through the lens of obeying and glorifying God. I’m Bryce Johnson, and you can UNPACK that! PRAYER: Heavenly Father, please help me think differently than the world and be willing to approach everything in life through Your lens. I desire to obey You and live for Your will and purposes. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
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