Mike Edmisten Follower of Jesus. Husband of Nicki. Father of Ryan & Brock. Communicator of the Word.

Something I Learned From Brad Pitt

Nicki and I watched the movie Moneyball last night. Not a bad flick overall. I love baseball, so it was right up my alley. But I don't think you have to be a baseball superfan to appreciate the movie. (Obligatory disclaimer…if you're easily offended by harsh language, skip this film.)

I won't spoil the movie for you if you haven't seen it. I'll just tell you a little about the setting of the film. In this movie, Brad Pitt stars as Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A's. In the mid-2000s, the A's lost all their star players to teams with more money. They had to rebuild from scratch. Most people wanted to operate from a standpoint of conventional wisdom, which says that small market teams (like the A's) can't compete with large market teams (like the Yankees). But Billy Beane refused to believe it. Instead, he got creative. Very creative.

I'll leave it at that because I don't want to spoil the movie. But there is a principle that I've been thinking about ever since I saw the movie. So many people around Billy Beane operated from a scarcity mentality. They were focused on what they didn't have. Billy operated from a very different perspective. He kept asking, "How can we do more with what we do have?"

The application in our lives is so obvious. It's easy to give cop out answers.

"I could do that if I had his money."

"I could do that if I had her education."

"I could do that if I had their opportunities."

But it's not just individuals. Churches do this, too.

"We could do that if we had their building."

"We could do that if we had a staff as big as theirs."

"We could do that if we had their budget."

Enough already. These kind of cop outs aren't helpful. In fact, they're incredibly destructive. And they're an insult to God, who gives us the grace and provision that we need. If we operate from a scarcity mentality, that is monumentally insulting to our Provider.

We need to adjust our approach. Reorient our thinking. Play to our strengths. Stop focusing on what we don't have and start maximizing what we do have.

And by the way, when we are faithful with what we do have, that's when God entrusts us with more. A scarcity mentality will never receive additional blessings. When we are faithful with little, we are blessed with much (Matthew 25:21).