I am pleased to welcome John Smoltz as my guest on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly.
John has been Major League Baseball’s lead game analyst for Fox Sports since 2014. Before that, he pitched for the Atlanta Braves, played in five World Series, and helped his team win a World Series title in 1995.
John grew up Catholic, but his faith meant little to him for most of his life. He thought of himself not as the prodigal son who was lost and confused but as the older brother who had life under control. He was ambitious and took pride in striving and achieving. Not only did he get by on his own strength and wits, he essentially worshiped his baseball career instead of focusing on God as he had been raised to do. He describes his early faith as walking with God but with “a fence between us.”
Eventually, John’s ability to be “good enough” proved insufficient. While stretched thin financially in several business endeavors, the economy crashed and his marriage suffered. His life bottomed out. And yet, out of adversity came new life. He realized that he had been so focused on standing for truth and being “right” that he lacked grace. He also discovered that when he surrendered his heart, God showed up.
John says, “Becoming a Christian allowed me to find peace and become the person I always knew I could be. I’d always had a strong arm; now I finally had a strong faith to match.”