Living Free from Expectations (feat. interview with Jack Bauer)

In this special summer mini-series episode of the Created to Be podcast, Bethany introduces an interview with Mississippi State Baseball pitcher Jack Bauer, conducted by Jason Crowder of WFCA radio for the FCA Radio Show.

As one of the most highly regarded young pitchers in college baseball, Jack shares what it has been like to navigate expectations, accolades, pressure, and faith while pursuing excellence on and off the field. One statement in particular stands out: "I've just had to learn not to live up to anyone else's expectations."

Following the interview, Bethany reflects on how easily our identity can become tied to performance, approval, and achievement. Drawing insights from The Joy Switch, she explores how joy begins to fade when we live in constant evaluation mode and how Jesus invites us to find our worth in relationship with God rather than in the opinions of others.

Whether you're an athlete, coach, parent, student, or leader, this episode offers an important reminder: your value is not determined by your performance. True joy is found in becoming who God created you to be.

Reflection Question: What expectation am I carrying right now that God never asked me to carry?

Book Mentioned: The Joy Switch by Chris Coursey

WFCA Audio File: Interview with Jack Bauer

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Christ has definitely taken a bigger role in my life, and I've kind of let him take control, and following him has been the main thing in my life.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Welcome to the Created To Be Podcast. I'm your host, Bethany Pigat, and I am by myself today. I will be hosting the next few episodes of the Created To Be Podcast in what we're calling our short summer series. So we had a such a fun time the last episode that we had episode 24 called the comments episode. And if you have not listened to it, and especially if you want a good laugh, you should go back and listen. We are really encouraging listeners to submit comments. And so we incorporated comments from Brad Smith, and we are going to have him on later as we get further into the summer. So we look forward to that. But in the meantime, we're taking a brief moment to introduce another type of series. That's what's great about this podcast is that it can take on a variety of forms, but the goal is just to inform the listeners and encourage athletes both about what's going on with FCA, but also let athletes share their stories. And we don't always capture those stories. There are amazing people that capture these stories throughout the year. And one of those people is Jason Crowder. And he was on our podcast several episodes ago. He works with several of the teams and he does an FCA radio show that is aired on WFCA radio. And sometimes you might miss those airings of those interviews. And so this is a great way that we can bring those interviews back and let you, the listener, hear them. So since this is a podcast form, we're going to do things a little bit different where I'm going to kind of introduce the ep like the interview, give a few points, play the interview, and then at the end just have some reflection questions. So it will feel a little bit different than the conversation style that we normally have, and we will re-return to that. But I love that we have this platform where we can experiment and express in different ways what God is doing in and through the athletes at Mississippi State and the staff and also have that like community feel and bring in a variety of people, a variety of voices to express that. So here we go. So on this particular interview, Jason interviews pitcher Jack Bauer. Now, right now, as I'm recording, the Mississippi State Bulldog baseball team is about to play the Georgia Bulldogs this weekend. So when this airs, it'll be after Super Regionals. We'll know if we're going to the College World Series or not. But regardless, it is, you know, extended baseball season right now. So this short summer series will include three interviews from current Bulldog baseball players. And maybe, you know, never know. Maybe it'll coincide with where we are. Maybe we'll still be playing baseball. But regardless, their stories are impactful and important. And I think it's so awesome for you to get to hear from them. And Jason does such an incredible job interviewing them. So you'll hear

Navigating Expectations

SPEAKER_00 3:01

Jack's story here in a little bit. But one of the things that he said in the interview that really impacted me and stood out to me is that he's a young guy, but yet he already has the maturity to say, he says in the interview, I've just had to learn not to live up to other people's expectations. And whether we are former athletes, current athletes, current coaches, former coaches, or maybe we're FCA staff, or maybe we're a business person or board member with FCA, a mom, a dad, a daughter, a son, whatever, at some point in your life you have faced expectations and you've had to weigh and navigate those expectations so that and then find yourself in that and like what works and like how much are you burdening yourself or what pressure is there? And so I just love that he said he's had to navigate that. And so we're gonna talk about that because of many, many of us spend a lot of our lives trying to meet the expectations of others, and sometimes we become so focused on what everyone else wants, we lose sight of who we're actually becoming. And this has been our theme, right? Like, who are we becoming? So one of the things that I mentioned to an athlete as I sat and spoke uh with an athlete one-on-one today is that there's this book called The Joy Switch, and how there's so many things happening at a um subconscious level that we cannot even track because God designed our brains to work like that on the right side of our brains. And one of the things that's so important is learning what will turn on this joy switch in our brain. Because when that joy switch is on, then we can manage heartache and upset and pressure in a different way. And so I'm gonna kind of try to connect between ideas and thoughts and concepts, the interview, and then this book, The Joy Switch, which I'll link in the show notes, try to draw all that together to make some really interesting content for you to think about in your own life, no matter where you find yourself with people's expectations. So, one idea from the joy switch is that joy tends to disappear when we live in constant evaluation mode, when we're always measuring ourselves against standards, scores, and other people's approval. We're disconnected from the present moment and from our true identity. And so that's something to really think about. So today's athlete shares a story about pressure. Well, just his how he learns about himself from the pressure that he's faced, but also like how he's, you know, had to just decide I'm not gonna, I'm gonna choose, which is really powerful to say it that way. I'm gonna choose not to live up to those expectations. And that's very mature at such a young age. Their expectations and then learning to separate who you know he is from what he does. So without going into anything any deeper than that, I want you to hear the interview between Jason and Jack Bauer. Enjoy.

SPEAKER_02 5:47

Hello,

Interview with Jack Bauer

SPEAKER_02 5:48

everybody, and welcome to the Fellowship of Christian Athlete Show. I'm your host, Jason Crowder. Jack Bauer, a left-handed pitcher with the Mississippi State Baseball team, joins us now. He is out of Frankfurt, Illinois, which is a suburb of Chicago. So, how did uh a northern guy get all the way down south to Starkville, Mississippi?

SPEAKER_01 6:06

Yeah, so I followed Coach O'Connor and the coaching staff here, and I couldn't be happier where I'm at. So, what was the biggest surprising thing about going to a rural area, being from a city? Yeah, it was definitely a culture shock, but people are definitely a lot more nicer around here than up north, and I'd say that was the biggest culture shock for me.

SPEAKER_02 6:27

You're considered a um future major league first round pick. A lot of people are even saying, hey, he could be the first pick in the major league draft. You're gonna have a future in the pros, no doubt. We're fortunate to have you here at Mississippi State. How has the experience in college been in preparing you for your goals and dreams of playing in the major leagues?

SPEAKER_01 6:47

Yeah, it's been great. I've been learning a lot, and that was my main reason for coming to college is having all the guys and a bunch of great guys here and learning from them and really just maturing as a person, not only as a baseball player, um, obviously the goal for me is to get to that next level, but to become the best person I can be as well.

SPEAKER_02 7:08

All right, you have so many accolades that I can't name them all, but you are a preseason freshman of the year by baseball America, rated as the number one freshman on campus by D1 baseball. How have you been able to put all of these accolades aside and say, okay, I gotta go out and work on my game, and where have you gotten better as a pitcher from high school to where you are now here in the season as a freshman?

SPEAKER_01 7:31

Yeah, well, I've dealt with it throughout high school, and it's really just focusing on myself and not trying to live up to anyone else's expectations, and it's just getting better each day. From high school to now, I've gotten a lot better with my poise and just becoming more of a complete pitcher overall. It's been um a learning experience, and it hasn't been smooth, but I know it's not gonna be smooth. There's gonna be some bumps in the road, and that's the whole point of being at college is just learning and getting better.

SPEAKER_02 7:55

Now, correct me if I'm wrong. You're the only player in prep baseball to ever hit 103 miles per hour. I mean, you're known for your fastball.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

When did you first hit 100 miles per hour? What age were you? I was 18, and it was my first outing of my senior year. So it was pretty surreal.

SPEAKER_02 8:12

And it's kept since. So what would you say is behind that with your mechanics, how you go out and approach, throwing the baseball? Is it just natural?

SPEAKER_01 8:21

Is it some work? What is it? Well, first I think it's God given. Um I've been blessed, and I couldn't be more grateful for the opportunities I had because of it. But it's also a lot of hard work and going into just simplifying it and building upon that gift I have. Let's talk about your faith.

Faith and Community

SPEAKER_01 8:39

How did you come to know Christ? I came to know Christ um through my parents when I was young, so I'm Serbian. Um, but we went to church pretty often, and now especially that I've gone to college, uh, Christ has definitely taken a bigger role in my life, and I've kind of let him take control, and following him has been the main thing in my life.

SPEAKER_02 8:58

Aaron Powell And being a young guy, you need people to sharpen you, right? As God's word says, iron sharpens iron, and you've got a lot of guys here on this team that share your same faith. How big have they been in getting you to adjust to college?

SPEAKER_01 9:12

Yes, sir. It's been massive, and all the guys here are great, and with them, they've also helped me get closer to Christ and make me a better person overall. So I couldn't be more grateful.

SPEAKER_02 9:22

You're at a southern town that's in the Bible belt. There's a lot of churches around here, but FCA is really big here on campus for the student athletes. How important has FCA been to you in your faith and in your growth in Christ here in college?

SPEAKER_01 9:34

It's been great. I've learned a lot through FCA, and it's also relating with a bunch of other athletes that are going through similar struggles and the similar past that you are. So it's it's great to have that, you know, kind of like stepping stone and use for just getting closer with Christ.

SPEAKER_02 9:51

You were named after Jack Bauer from the series 24, and I've read where you have never seen it. I haven't either. So what's the story in you being named after Jack Bauer from that TV series?

SPEAKER_01 10:04

Well, they kind of came up with the name Jack um ahead of it, and then the the series kind of happened and they stuck with it. They knew it was gonna be a popular thing, so I'm now that guy. So are you okay with it with their play, even though it's not your wall cup, they play the theme here at the dude to to the series? I think it's awesome, and I think it's I definitely play into it a little bit, so I think it's cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:28

Before we let you go, I've got to ask you a little bit about the goals of this team. Uh obviously, big weekend with Tennessee coming in. Where are the goals with this team at this point of the season compared to where you have the had them at the beginning of the year?

SPEAKER_01 10:39

Yeah, I mean the goals it stays the same. Win a national championship and go as far as we can. I know we've got the talent to do it, we've got the guys to do it, and it's really just staying together and relying on each other and just doing your own job. So making the national championship and winning it all is the goal.

SPEAKER_02 10:53

Thank you, Jack. Jack Bauer joining us here on the Fellowship of Christian Athlete Show. I'm your host, Jason Crowder.

SPEAKER_00 10:59

So, what stood out to me in this interview is how often success and approval become intertwined. The athlete may have accomplished what everyone expected, or perhaps they didn't, but either way, the deeper question remains who are you when the applause stops? Jesus consistently invited people to find their identity in relationship with God rather than for performance for people. And that's what this podcast is about. That's what FCA is about. And also this book, The Joy Switch, reminds us that joy isn't found in constantly proving ourselves. Joy grows when we live from our values instead of from other people's evaluations. The challenge is to not stop caring for others. The challenge is to stop letting other people determine your worth. So as we close up this short and sweet episode in this short and sweet summer series, my

Reflection Question

SPEAKER_00 11:46

reflection question for you is what expectation am I carrying right now that God never asked me to carry? Thanks so much for listening today, and I hope you'll join us next week as we continue this short summer series. Thanks for listening to the Created to Be Podcast. To learn more about Mississippi State FCA, visit www.msufca.org and follow us on Instagram at Hale StateFCA underscore. And check out our new Instagram for podcast content at CreatedToBe Podcast. If you would like to become a financial partner, visit www.fca.org/slash donate to sew into the work God is doing through FCA at Mississippi State.