Was Abraham the First Pitcher?

Are we living in a time when, in order to be a popular, a pastor must be a perfect pitcher?  One of the contemporary meanings of the word “pitch” is to promote or sell a person or product. A popular show on ABC, called “The Shark Tank” features aspiring entrepreneurs pitching their businesses/products to a panel of successful, sharky, venture capitalists, hoping to leave the show with an investment.

Does there appear to be a lot of pitching in the church these days—pastors pitching their preaching, products and personalities; and churches pitching programs? Locally, a church funding campaign, called “Please Hand Me a Brick,” is pitching to raise to $1.5 million over and above members’ normal tithes by 'selling' $1,000 bricks.

Ironically, the Bible uses the word “pitcher” to describe Abraham who, apparently despising bricks and building programs, “pitched” his tent wherever he stayed (Gen 2:8), a symbolic act of detachment, “looking to a city with eternal foundations, designed and built by God” (Heb. 11:10). That said, Abraham was a builder: while he was pitching tents, he was building altars to the Lord. And when Abraham pulled up stakes, all that was left behind was a monument of devotion to God. Might that be our legacy too?