Sometimes we hear people say we shouldn’t worry about theological differences. Such differences aren’t important. But our theology impacts the way we see the world and the people in that world, even when we’re not aware of it.

I was reminded of that recently while reading a Southern Baptist magazine. An article by a leader in that denomination caught my attention because it mentioned Pete Rose. I’m not currently a baseball fan, but I was as a teenager. My grandfather was a huge Cincinnati Reds fan and would listen to the games. He was hard of hearing, so the volume on his radio was very loud. If you were in the house, you had no choice. You had to listen to the game.

Pete Rose was the star of the Reds in those days. Eventually, he would become one of the greatest baseball players of all time. In fact, he would have more hits than any player in history, breaking the record set decades earlier by Ty Cobb. He was guaranteed to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame when he became eligible.

But it wasn’t meant to be. He broke one of the cardinal rules of baseball. When his playing days were over, he naturally became a coach. But as a coach, he placed bets on certain games. He was banned from baseball for life and became ineligible for the Hall of Fame. Many spoke ill of him, saying he was a jerk. He was later convicted of cheating on his taxes and ended up spending time in prison.

In the article I read, the author considers the life of Pete Rose. He states the obvious: Rose “had some serious character flaws.” But he then draws some conclusions that are not obvious. It is clear that these conclusions spring from the author’s theology. He says that he has been praying for many years that Rose “would run head-first in repentance and faith to the King of kings” (The Courier, June 2023 edition, p. 3).

I was stunned by such a statement. He clearly sees Rose as an unbeliever. I am used to hearing the view that in order to be eternally saved the unbeliever must turn from his sin (repentance) and exercise “true” faith. But the writer’s theology takes this to its logical conclusion. Pete Rose cannot be a believer because, in the author’s view, no believer could ever cheat on their taxes or do something illegal on their job, such as a coach betting on a baseball game.

It is difficult for me to imagine judging the eternal destiny of people–even people I don’t know–by such a standard. Does the author not see the sin in his own life? How could he possibly know whether Pete Rose has ever believed in Christ for eternal life or not? I have to admit, Pete Rose’s sins seem pretty tame to me!

How did this Southern Baptist writer, who belongs to a denomination that supposedly believes in the eternal security of the believer, come to hold such a view of somebody he only saw on television? He doesn’t say explicitly, but he does give a strong clue. He lists a number of his favorite theological authors. They include John MacArthur, R. C. Sproul, John Piper, Albert Mohler, John Calvin, and Martyn Lloyd-Jones. In fact, he says MacArthur’s exegesis of the Scriptures has influenced his own exegesis more than any other person.

Many readers of this blog will recognize that these men all hold a theology that says true believers must persevere in good works and cannot sin in a manner that is too bad. A guy like Pete Rose cannot, therefore, be a child of God.

How horrendous is that? I don’t know if Pete Rose is a believer or not. But I know that cheating on your taxes, breaking the rules of your employment, or spending time in prison do not disqualify a person from being a child of God.

There is a warning here. We need to be careful whom we listen to for theological understanding. It will impact the way we see the world. Don’t ever think theology is not important. It can cause us to distort the gospel of grace. It can cause us to be blind to the depth of our own sin and thus allow us to judge others extremely harshly. It can even cause us to pray for years for the spiritual salvation of people we have never met. Our theology can make us so proud that we can’t even consider that maybe even Pete Rose has been saved by the grace of God.