Instead of big-league career, he found big-league ministry.
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It was the day after Thanksgiving, and Tim Cash and 3-year-old daughter Rachel were hanging Christmas lights on their Auburn, Georgia, home. Tim’s wife, Barb, suggested they do something different, so Tim and Rachel erected a cross using the post and guardrail on the front porch.
It was no deep evangelical effort, just a symbol of the family’s commitment to Jesus Christ. Two days later, as Cash stood in the driveway washing his van, a man using a crutch limped down the street. Cash said hello, then said, “You look like you’re in pain.” The man walked his way and they began to talk. He spoke of his medication, but Cash sensed a deeper hurt and risked asking about it. “You look like you’re disturbed — what’s going on?” Cash said.
As Cash pushed son Benji in a stroller, the three went for a walk and the man began to open up. He shared about his wife’s drinking problems, a recent auto accident she had while drunk, her attempt at suicide, his own abuse as a child from a broken home and suicidal tendencies, and the rocky marriage. Cash found himself in a position to minister to this total stranger.
“I was blown away by his transparency,” Cash said. Seizing the moment in the power of the Holy Spirit, Cash led the man back to his house and they sat in lawn chairs in the driveway. Within a few minutes, the man accepted Christ as his Savior.
After Cash had given the man a Bible and some discipleship material, he said, “Just one question before you go, ‘Why did you stop at our house today, why were you so comfortable stopping and opening up?'” The man answered, “As I was on my way home the other night, I passed by your house and saw the cross, and so I thought maybe I could talk to you.”
Cash has devoted his life to being light in a dark world. He is not a pastor, per se , nor has his audience primarily been the average man on the street. Cash works with Unlimited Potential, whose motto is “Serving Christ through Baseball.” Cash does evangelistic baseball clinics throughout the United States and overseas, utilizing major league baseball players to teach the game and, foremost, to share Christ.
Cash, a former pro baseball player and a member of Hebron Baptist Church, Dacula, Georgia, ministers to almost 100 major league players, many in a Bible study setting in the home of center fielder Brett Butler near Atlanta.
Cash’s encounter with the neighbor is one example of his broadening scope of ministry. Of it, he said, “I was washing a van — Jesus was washing a heart. I had been hanging lights — Jesus was revealing the light.” To everyone he asks, “When people pass your way, do they see the cross?”
Cash didn’t see the cross until he was 21 years old. “Baseball was my God,” he said. Growing up in Newnan, Georgia, Cash would have the baseball gloves and balls laid out on the front porch when his father arrived home from doing drywall work.
“I grew up with a young dad, and it was great, because sure enough, before he would go inside and kiss mom, he’d pick up the glove,” Cash said.
Baseball got him through college and to the pros. But he drank regularly, smoked marijuana and battled arm problems. Frustration mounted, especially after his first elbow operation in 1985.
“I was hurting, reaching out,” he said. His father had been “radically saved” the year before. The man who helped him learn about baseball also helped him accept the cross of Christ as Cash was saved that year. He would have a total of three elbow and shoulder operations and would not make it to the major leagues, but Cash’s focus had changed to serving Christ. Now baseball and the gospel work together.
His role with Unlimited Potential comes first, but his ministry is spreading as he is asked to speak in a wide variety of situations and is regularly asked to fill the pulpit. Unlimited Potential puts Cash in contact with the men who are in the place he once wanted to be.
“I’m really am a pastor to the majority of the guys, in the sense that we’re doing Bible study, having ministry to the guys and through the guys,” Cash said. “We’re trying to fulfill the angle of discipleship and equipping, but also of evangelism by taking the guys out into situations where they can share their faith.”
Cash’s wife ministers to the players’ wives in Bible study. The players meet with the Cashes as couples, individuals and in a group regularly for study and fellowship. Although most are regularly church attenders, the home fellowship with the Cashes becomes church, in a sense, because of their unique circumstances.
“They’re hounded at the park by autograph seekers, and even at church they’re asked, or somebody’s always wanting to talk to them,” Cash said. “So for them to get freed up and caught up in collective worship, they almost have to do it somewhere else.”
Cash’s position allows him to know intimately many men who have achieved their dreams for athletic and financial success, and he knows that is not what gives them peace. His message:
“Satan comes to steal, comes to kill and he comes to destroy.
Satan is not some cat dressed up in a red suit with horns and
a pitchfork. The Bible says he disguises himself as an angel
of light. I want people to see the real light, the cross of
Jesus Christ. It is the only thing that brings peace.”
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Version used in sermon by David Holwick on 12/21/2014:
It was the day after Thanksgiving, and Tim Cash and 3-year-old daughter Rachel were hanging Christmas lights on their home in Auburn, Georgia. Tim’s wife, Barb, suggested they do something different, so Tim and his daughter erected a cross using the post and guardrail on the front porch. It was no deep evangelical statement, just a symbol of the family’s commitment to Jesus Christ.
Two days later, as Cash stood in the driveway washing his van, a man using a crutch limped down the street. Cash said hello, then said, “You look like you’re in pain.” The man walked his way and they began to talk. He spoke of his medication, but Cash sensed a deeper hurt and risked asking about it. “You look like you’re disturbed — what’s going on?” Cash asked.
As Cash pushed his son Benji in a stroller, the three went for a walk and the man began to open up. He shared about his wife’s drinking problems, a recent auto accident she had while drunk, her attempt at suicide, his own abuse as a child from a broken home and suicidal tendencies, and their rocky marriage.
Cash was blown away by how open the man was. Feeling led by the Spirit, he led the man back to his house and they sat in lawn chairs in the driveway. Within a few minutes, the man accepted Jesus as his Savior.
After Cash had given the man a Bible and some discipleship material, he said, “Just one question before you go – Why did you stop at our house today? Why were you so comfortable stopping and opening up?”
The man answered, “As I was on my way home the other night, I passed by your house and saw the cross, and so I thought maybe I could talk to you.”
Tim Cash thought to himself, “I had been hanging lights — Jesus was revealing the light.” To everyone he asks, “When people pass your way, do they see the cross?”