{"id":546,"date":"2011-06-21T08:00:54","date_gmt":"2011-06-21T12:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/?p=546"},"modified":"2012-10-05T14:00:57","modified_gmt":"2012-10-05T18:00:57","slug":"pittsburgh-pirates-outfielder-matt-diaz-on-eternal-perspective-evangelism-and-giving-it-everything-hes-got","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2011\/06\/pittsburgh-pirates-outfielder-matt-diaz-on-eternal-perspective-evangelism-and-giving-it-everything-hes-got.html","title":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Matt Diaz on eternal perspective, evangelism and giving it everything he’s got"},"content":{"rendered":"

EDITOR’S NOTE: Since this interview was originally posted, Diaz has returned to the Atlanta Braves.<\/p>\n

Somehow, you\u2019d think having just under a .300 career batting average might qualify a Major League player for superstar status. But somehow, Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Matt Diaz (pronounced DIE-az) has spent nine seasons well below the radar. And that\u2019s okay with him.<\/p>\n

Diaz, who happens to be the brother of national Christian recording artist Jonny Diaz, is happy to be a productive team player and more importantly someone whom teammates and fans alike can look to as an example of God\u2019s love. In this interview, Diaz talks to me about eternal perspective, evangelism and exemplifying Christ by giving everything he\u2019s got on the field:<\/p>\n

Bonham: How did you become a Christian?<\/p>\n

Diaz: I grew up in a ministry family. My dad was a preacher. I received Christ at a Dawson McCallister meeting when I was 13 years old, but I didn\u2019t ask Him to be my Lord until I was 19. I remember when I was unpacking luggage and settling into in my college dorm. I saw a Bible my mom had packed for me. Everything I read that night hit me in the face. I randomly opened it to the passages in Revelation about being lukewarm. I realized that I had been living lukewarm. I wanted the best of both worlds. I wanted to fit in. And there\u2019s nothing wrong with fitting in if it\u2019s within God\u2019s will, but I wasn\u2019t willing to sacrifice the things that I wanted. That\u2019s when my faith became real to me.<\/p>\n

Bonham: What is a biblical principle that guides your life?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Matt Diaz (Photo by David Carlson\/MLB Photos via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Diaz: What I love about the Bible is that it\u2019s a group of stories but it\u2019s all telling one main story. It\u2019s about Jesus Christ. The story is not about me. That takes a lot of the pressure off me, but it also puts the responsibility on me to point people to who the true story is about. It\u2019s given me an eternal perspective on things. With baseball, it helps because I know that this isn\u2019t all there is in life. If I have a great game, I don\u2019t get too high. If I have a terrible game, I don\u2019t get too low. I know that there\u2019s more to this life and we were created for more than just to play a game.<\/p>\n

Bonham: What\u2019s your favorite Bible verse?<\/p>\n

Diaz: Philippians 1:6. \u201cBeing confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.\u201d That goes back to that eternal perspective. God has made some promises and He\u2019s never broken one yet. I get to live assured that He\u2019s going to keep His promises. It has to be (my favorite verse). I have it tattooed on my left arm. My wife would kill me if I said anything else. It\u2019s a daily reminder. That was the only way I could get the tattoo.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How do you deal with the ups and downs of baseball?<\/p>\n

Diaz: I\u2019ve been sent down to the minor leagues six or seven times in my career. You\u2019ve just got to have that stability. It\u2019s huge. It\u2019s comforting. And it\u2019s reassuring. To be part of something in this world that\u2019s constantly changing like baseball, it\u2019s awesome to have your hope anchored in something that\u2019s so stable.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How do you approach your call as a Christian to reach out to those who don\u2019t believe in Jesus?<\/p>\n

Diaz: We Christians sometimes think we need a plan for evangelism. I don\u2019t think Jesus had an evangelism plan. I think He just interacted with the people He came into contact with. That\u2019s what I try to do. I just try to find ways to love the people that I\u2019m around. It\u2019s hard sometimes because I\u2019m selfish and I want to focus inwardly but when I can fight against that and look at other people\u2019s needs, it\u2019s really a stark contrast to what people are used to in such a selfish environment. It\u2019s really an effective evangelism tool. Who would have known that Jesus knew what He was talking about?<\/p>\n

Bonham: Does the fact that fans are watching and know you are a Christian change the way you conduct your business?<\/p>\n

Diaz: If I break up a double play with a hard slide, people will say, \u201cWhat would Jesus do?\u201d I\u2019ll tell them, \u201cHe would have planted them into the outfield wall.\u201d My Jesus cleared the temple too. That doesn\u2019t mean He lost His cool. It was calculated and He did what He needed to be done to represent His Father. Jesus is my role model and He is whom I try to follow. Everything I do, I know I\u2019m representing Him. Does it mean I do it well all the time? No. But I do ask for forgiveness for the times I bring Him a bad name.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EDITOR’S NOTE: Since this interview was originally posted, Diaz has returned to the Atlanta Braves. Somehow, you\u2019d think having just under a .300 career batting average might qualify a Major League player for superstar status. But somehow, Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Matt Diaz (pronounced DIE-az) has spent nine seasons well below the radar. And that\u2019s okay…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":418,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[14,256,255,13,254,223],"class_list":["post-546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-athletes","category-sports-features","tag-chicago-bulls","tag-dawson-mccallister","tag-jonny-diaz","tag-kyle-korver","tag-matt-diaz","tag-pittsburgh-pirates"],"yoast_head":"\nPittsburgh Pirates outfielder Matt Diaz on eternal perspective, evangelism and giving it everything he's got - Inspiring Athletes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2011\/06\/pittsburgh-pirates-outfielder-matt-diaz-on-eternal-perspective-evangelism-and-giving-it-everything-hes-got.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Matt Diaz on eternal perspective, evangelism and giving it everything he's got - Inspiring Athletes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"EDITOR’S NOTE: Since this interview was originally posted, Diaz has returned to the Atlanta Braves. 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