Josh Jung - Keeping Perspective

“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”

-Ephesians 6:11

A first round pick in the 2019 MLB Draft by the Texas Rangers, Texas Tech alum Josh Jung has loads of excitement and anticipation surrounding his name. One of the most coveted athletes in the draft, many have praised not only his skills on the field, but his leadership and poise as well. For Josh Jung, he says that for him, faith is what drives him and keeps him motivated.

Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, the Jung family always emphasized keeping a faith a priority in their house. Although sports often made it difficult to attend church on Sundays, they emphasized growing their faith in other ways. “I grew up on a field and my entire childhood we traveled the country to play in tournaments and basically played all over on weekends so going to church wasn’t huge. But we said we would worship by how we played the game.” Jung says that throughout his life he has also had a couple of moments where his faith became a more important part of who he is. “My journey with Christ though has two little kick starts. I gave my life to Christ my freshman year of high school. And then my freshman year of college was the first time I took that step of a personal journey with him. My three years in college we’re awesome in many ways but the things that really hit home with me are the memories from sharing my story with God to others.”

That faith continued to grow for Jung and he says that he has focused on keeping his eyes fixed on what it is that matters most. “I’d say the biggest influence being a Jesus follower has been on my career is perspective. Being a baseball player will not be what defines me, being a Christ follower and child of God is what I want to define me.” As Jung has grown in his faith, he says he makes it a priority to not let the results of the game define him but instead keep focused on who God says he is. “People will watch how you do things and your character is always at play. Baseball can be hard. It’s a game of failure. And you are going to fail 7/10 times and be considered good you know so it’s during failures and successes you thank God for. It’s easy to follow when everything is going great. It’s hard when things are rough. But for me that’s a time to take a step back and be like okay what is god trying to tell me about myself in this season or in this storm and how can I become better on the other side of it.” His faith has helped Jung not get caught up in the results of the game or the opinions of others, but keep focused on what is most important.

For Josh Jung, he says there is a certain verse that he holds close to his heart and gives him strength. Ephesians 6:11 says, “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” Jung says that this verse gives him strength and confidence for whatever it is to come. “God has equipped us and gives us strength to go out into the world and spread the good news, to spread the word of god. But, with that comes darkness. The devil will do whatever he can to come and get us off track and we can put on our armor and ‘be protected from the devil’s schemes.’”

Because of the coronavirus and its impact on baseball, Josh Jung’s 2020 didn’t go according to plan. But throughout the campaign he has continued to focus on staying grateful for the situation that he is in and trust that God is in control through the good times and the bad. Although it may not make sense to him at the time, he continues to advocate for trusting that God is in control even when you may not be able to see it. As he continues to make his way towards the majors as one of MLB’s top prospects, he is staying grounded and focused on giving God the glory.

 

*Photos Courtesy of Texas Tech Athletics