Latest / CBN Sports 1-ON-1 / Ep. 4 L.A. Dodgers Blake Treinen
Transcript
- Will Dawson: Welcome to CBN Sports One-on-One, where you'll hear exclusive interviews with some of the biggest names in sports right here on the CBN Sports Podcast Network. I'm your host, Will Dawson. If you're like most of us and you love sports, but you're tired of the dark side of sports culture, me focused athletes, or even organizations that bow to an unbiblical belief system, you're going to love this podcast. There's no yelling, no sensationalism, just Great conversations with athletes and coaches who recognize that their purpose is bigger than their sport. This week our guest is Dodgers pitcher Blake Trine, and we cover a ton of ground in this short conversation. Blake talks Christianity versus Islam, being overweight and bullied when he was younger, and even leaving a lasting legacy for his wife and his kids. Let's jump right in. Let's talk about your walk with Jesus. When did that start? Yeah, I was I was born in eighty eight and my mom and dad were both raised in the church, my dad Catholic, my mom Bible church. And so, ⁓ as I got older my dad traveled a lot with military and so the consistency became going to church with my mom, me and my brother. And I'm grateful, you know, that my mom raised me in the church and raised me in, you know, like sound doctrine and how to be, you know, like a good person, first and foremost. Because as a kid you don't really I don't think I I never grasped what it meant to truly be a Christian other than just treat people with respect, love your neighbour yourself, love the Lord God with all your art. That's pretty basic and simple. Doesn't hurt anybody, people don't have to agree with you, you're still you're still contributing to society in a great way. When I got to high school, you start viewing the world differently. You see things on the news that make you sh ⁓ think like, Why is Christianity the right faith? Who's to say Christianity's right over Buddhism or Hinduism or w whatever, Islam or you know, you choose any of them. And I went to a a youth conference in Tennessee, I think it was called Chick. ⁓ it's a it's a it's a Bible college conference that the University of Tennessee would hold on. And ⁓ we would we I remember we all met in the basketball arena and they were doing worship. And at the time you're like, Yeah I'll that's kinda what it was for. But really you're trying to meet people, you know, trying to network as a kid, figure out who you are, fit in. And I was missing the whole aspect of worship. I was missing the whole aspect. But I had questions in my heart about is this real? And what if I miss the mark? Who's to say this is the right way? And I'm sitting in the stands and there had this guy come on stage and I started playing this worship song, pretty much talking about the life of Jesus and how he paid it all for us. This guy's just throwing paint on a huge canvas, back and forth, strokes, random colors, and I love art. And I've never seen it before, and at the end of it, and this is back in Okay, two thousand and three. I know that guy, by the way. And he threw at the end of it when it and when it the the song gave the story and the name at the end like became clear and we all know like it's Jesus. But when Jesus is hit on this song, you know, he throws a bucket and all of a sudden he turns the image so everybody can see it. Well you've seen it the whole time, but he steps away so you can see it. And it's the first time I felt the Holy Spirit and I didn't know the time, I look back and it's like I know it's a tangible move of the spirit on me because I just sat down and weeped and I was embarrassed. Like not embarrassed at the moment, but like what are pe like I'm crying in front of my friends. I'm trying to be like this strong young man. I just couldn't stop weeping. I uncontrollably. Because the image was Christ. And ⁓ with, you know, his crown of thorns and the image that he paid for us, you know, ⁓ that's when I knew that it was real. Because I haven't thought about other faiths or ethos or whatever you want to call it and had that reaction. It was more of like, how do I rela wrap the world around it? When I can't wrap the world around Christ. Like that's that's an eternal thing that like all of us have in us. And he's constantly pulling us towards him if we'll yield ourselves. And that was the moment where I had this tangible moment with the Lord. I didn't know it. I didn't know why I didn't have an explanation to why I felt the way I did, but I knew it was real. And as I've gotten older the passion he put on my heart to play baseball. And I was a overweight, a lot of health issues in high school, bullied. ⁓ and I you know, I just kind of kept my head down and and and did as good as I could to fit in. And eventually God like carried me out of this and put me into like an opportunity to walk on at a D at a NAIS school. And then I was gonna walk on at Arkansas the following year and it didn't work out. And then all the way through this I kept seeing the Lord's faithfulness and I wasn't perfect through college, you know, like I I fell into the traps of the world a little bit. ⁓ you know, me partying and and and and falling into like temptations I shouldn't have. But at the end of the day, I'm so grateful that God had a bigger plan and protected me through those moments 'cause I can see now how how close I was to missing the will God had for my life. It doesn't mean he didn't have a different will past that moment, but we have the right to choose. you know, our our what what what direction we're going and God's gonna God's gonna push us as we go. I I pinch myself because it doesn't matter how hard I tried. I mean we work hard as if we're doing it for the Lord and not for man. And he's gonna open doors and then we choose how we're gonna respond. And I look back and it's it's crazy. I'm a I'm a I think my family's name is great in the eyes of of God. But in the eyes of the world nobody really knew the Trinans. You know, and nobody knew Blake. And I I don't really care if they do, but I I want them to see Christ's greatness and what he's accomplished in my career. And so every day I come out, it's like some days are hard, you know. I've been through a tough patch this year. ⁓ and I I just, you know, how can I honor my teammates? How can I encourage them? And I'm not a vocal guy, like talking more to you right now than I probably do in general, but you lead by example rather than Yeah. It's and so like how can I leave a lasting impact? And you know, we talked a little bit about A certain somebody who, you know, had a impact on the world. And what I think about right now is every single one of us having given a gift and our and our way of repaying it to the Lord is how do we honor him with that gift. Because if when I am welcomed into the gates of heaven, I want to hear job well done, good and faithful servant. And I don't want to see any of my teammates or anybody in the stands or anybody in this world face the alternative. And so how how do we make heaven crowded? And that's really my goal. And it's the heart of my mom and my grandparents and and my dad and people who prayed into my life because I'm I am the benefactor of fervent prayer over over my life. He who began a good work will bring it to completion on the day of Christ Jesus in your life, man. That's awesome. Man, tell me what difference your relationship with Christ makes in your marriage and as a father? Well I think I look back as to how stubborn and resistant I was, ⁓ when he was clearly trying to show me things and sometimes in the moment you miss it and so Man I sometimes I get a little short, you know, like why don't you guys understand this, you know, Addison Crew, Sailor, you know, like how do you guys not grasp it? There's Christians and pre Christians. Like we're all destined to have an eternity with our father. Some of us are more stubborn to get there and some of us might miss the mark. And but I see his grace and his love for me when I'm missing what he's trying to do. And so as I've gotten older, especially over the last two years, trying really, really hard to be more gracious and understanding like my kids are kids. And it's not about winning it all in this moment. It's about the constant momentum of building them up to be the greatest individual they can be in Christ. And so that when they're my age they can pull the kingdom of heaven on earth and stomp the gate to hell. That's that's what I want. And my wife is the same way and you know, as Christ loved the church, we lay lay we we lay down our life. As he laid the life down for the church, we lay it down our life for our wives and we're supposed to lead with that example of self sacrifice. I'm not perfect in any of these areas I'm talking about. Yeah. But I'm not called to be perfect. I'm called to be obedient because Christ was perfect. And so just using him as an example and you know trying to understand And ask for wisdom for more depth with what he's teaching us through his word, because it's living and and active for for all instances, and I'm trying to lean more on it. Just you've been in the league almost a dozen years. Yeah. Longer than most people survive in the in the big leagues, right? So so being thankful and knowing God's sovereignty in your life and what he's brought you through, what's you know, long term, what do you think? Well I was up talking to Michael about ⁓ King Solomon and Ecclesiastes, how fleeting life is and how anything can be taken from us at any time and you having pitched and gotten hurt and being out of the game for a little bit and know that, right? Yeah. ⁓ what's what's next? What do you hope for? What do you hope your legacy I guess is ultimately? My legacy in the game. Legacy in the game and then your legacy as as a husband, as a father. My legacy as a husband and father is still being written. I don't know what that looks like. I know It's supposed to be as Christ like and loving and encouraging and edifying and building up as much as I can. And I'm gonna learn and and pray for strategy and pray for you know a boldness to lead in that way. ⁓ as a teammate, I had a a friend who's a business owner say that in his business, he goes, God, would you allow me to bring you the most glory out of anybody in this field of business? He's like, Blake, why can't you pray that? 'Cause I don't know what God has for me the rest of my career. I'm sure I've missed the mark in a lot of areas. But I pray now. I'm like, God, can I if you trust me, would you allow me to be the guy that brings you the most glory in the history? And that's not a selfish thing. I just like why can't Christ's name be magnified more in the world? Like Christ over culture. And I think there's so many Christians out there, myself included, who I think God's trying to call us into this bold roar. And it's not of violence, it's of it's of truth. It's to reveal the peace that that Christ tries to bring us and the eternal hope of glory with with our Father in heaven. And a lot of people are begging for truth and they're they're trying to find what is attractive. And I think for so long, myself included, we've been taught to just meet people where they're at. Facts. But the gospel is supposed to be cutting to the core and it's It's supposed to be offensive in a way that edifies and builds people up and calls us to a better person. Repentance is a 180 turn from wherever we're struggling. And I'm I want to make sure that I, within my flaws, I'm doing a good job of being an example of Christ. And so like hopefully my teammates see that. Hopefully fans see that. ⁓ even when I'm terrible on the mound at times and maybe falling short of what expectations are. ⁓ you know, I have a gift and I know that. As long as I'm in this game, it's where God wants me. And the second I'm not, I'm never gonna look back and be like, man, I wish God, why can't I be in baseball? Because wherever he has me, wherever he has any of us, is where we're gonna be the most fulfilled in that moment. You might think it's somewhere else, but I promise it will never be more fulfilling than in the moment if you're walking in the will of God. Last question, I promise. Fire emoji song. It was, yeah. Yeah, still is it still? No, no, I switched it to ⁓ Brandon Lake, ⁓ count ⁓ Okay. Yeah, I like both of them. So yeah, fire emoji spawn, it's got a little bum bump. Yeah, yeah. But you can hear more lyrics in the Okay, yeah, I didn't know it ran its course or whatever, but you you're it's you're it was intentional to have some something with lyrics in it. Yes, yeah, 'cause the other one is hard to follow. I know my dad's like, I don't know what he's saying. I'm like, Well it's a Christian song, you would have the lyrics. ⁓ and so I went with something that was more of like upbeat worship. So now, you know, ⁓ you are the Lord holy. Plays in the stadium and hopefully it meets some people. So Blake talked about wrestling with the truth of Christianity. For any skeptics out there, I love the illustration of a watch. You know because the watch exists, there has to be a watchmaker. Think about creation. There are 120 million light sensitive cells in our eyes. That didn't happen accidentally. God has created us to seek him, and he promises that if you do seek him with your whole heart, he will receive you. See, Blake and a lot of other athletes know that God has saved them, not because they're great athletes. And even more importantly, not because they're good people. We're all sinners who fall short of God's grace. We need a savior, and that's exactly what Jesus did for us on a cross about 2,000 years ago. He lived the life we couldn't live. He paid the price for our sins by dying on the cross, and then was raised from the dead on the third day, showing God approved of his sacrifice. All we have to do is turn to Jesus and turn from our sins with his help, because he's good and he's given us good gifts. If you enjoyed this podcast, please share it with a friend, family member, or coworker. Our goal is to reach the world with the gospel through sports. See you next week.