Typically, speakers who grace the stage at Centennial Chapel stand behind the pulpit, or pace back and forth while speaking. But Ben Zobrist took a different position—dropping to one knee, bowing his head and leading the room in prayer. Zobrist shared that he tried to start every day with kneeling prayer straight out of bed, but had missed that morning. “I am a broken man,” he admitted. “But I know I need God every day, every moment.”
The two-time World Series champion and Olivet alum didn’t come to talk about baseball. He came to talk about something much deeper: how to balance confidence with humility, and how embracing healthy shame can make us stronger.
The Power of Healthy Shame
“Shame usually sounds like a bad word,” Zobrist said. “But not all shame is toxic. There’s a kind of shame that reminds us that we’re not perfect—and that’s a good thing.”
Drawing a line between toxic shame and healthy shame, he explained that while toxic shame tears us down and convinces us we’re unworthy, healthy shame can humble us and push us to grow.
“There are moments in life when we realize we aren’t who we want to be,” he said. “And instead of pretending otherwise or covering it up, we have to lean into that reality. That’s the only way we truly grow.”
A Brain Scare and a Lesson in Humility
Even as a pro athlete, Zobrist has had his share of humbling moments. He shared a story about signing with the Chicago Cubs—one of the highest points in his career. But before he could step onto Wrigley Field, he had to go through a routine medical screening.
That’s when a doctor casually mentioned they would be doing an MRI to check for a possible brain aneurysm.
“For two hours, I sat in that scan thinking, ‘Am I about to have brain surgery?’” he recalled. “One moment I was on top of the world, and the next, I was afraid I might lose everything.”
In the end, the scan came back clear. But the experience stuck with him. “It was a reminder that no matter how much we accomplish, we are still human. We are still dependent on God.”
Confidence at the Foot of the Cross
Zobrist tied his message back to scripture, pointing to the Apostle Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians: ‘When I am weak, then I am strong.’
“If we’re going to live with true confidence, we need to keep one knee on the ground,” he said. “We have to remember that our strength isn’t in what we achieve—it’s in God.”
That mindset is what inspired Zobrist to launch Champion Forward, an organization dedicated to helping athletes and leaders develop a healthy identity beyond their performance.
“As Christians, we are called to stand strong,” he said. “But real strength doesn’t come from pride—it comes from knowing who we are in Christ.”
With that, Zobrist encouraged the students in the room to embrace both confidence and humility. “Don’t run from your weaknesses. Learn from them. And trust that God is working in them.”
He closed with a reminder: “The world will tell you to build yourself up. But the truth is, you don’t have to carry that weight alone. Keep your confidence at the foot of the cross.”
Ben Zobrist played twelve seasons in the MLB, and won the World Series with the Kansas City Royals (2015) and Chicago Cubs (2016). In 2023, Zobrist founded Champion Forward, an organization dedicated to helping teenage athletes, parents, and coaches process emotions, normalize failures, and manage the fame associated with sports.
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