“Do not let any part of your bodies become tools of wickedness, to be used for sinning; but give yourselves completely to God—every part of you—for you are back from death and you want to be tools in the hands of God, to be used for his good purposes.” (Romans 6:13 The Living Bible)
In Hardball, a heart touching, 2001 movie in which Keanu Reeves place the coach of a little league baseball team that was made up of kids who lived in Chicago and played in a field that had some nearby, unnamed projects in the backdrop, toward the end of this drama/comedy film, Mr. Reeves addresses team members before the championship game. They had risen from the worst time in the league to where they had made it to the “ship.” They had fulfilled their self-proclaimed, motivational prophecy , “We’re going to the ship! We are going to the ship!”
In a passionate pre-game talk, the coach seems to have adopted a style used by great African-American preachers. For after each of a number of compliments and statements of praise, Mr. Reeves reiterates, repeats a thematic phrase, registers his point, “But you showed up.” Through all the things he listed that were against them, he employs the phrase to emphasize the payoff for persevering, “But you showed up.”
It’s a great movie. I have seen it several times. The first times was over 12 years ago, riding in a limo from a town in Connecticut to Boston with a group of managers, all who had to wipe tears from their eyes as we watched the movie in the limo. I watched it twice in the last two weeks. The line I referred to above was inspiring to me and caused me to think how we as believers, followers of Christ, how we need to let the fact that we are new creatures show up, regardless of the obstacles in our way, and in spite of the scornful who laughs by non-Christians at our devotion to the Lord, and even when we go through crisis. No matter what goes on, the post script, the resounding message from the movie should describe the days of our lives, “But you showed up!” Yes, demonstrating powerful and persistent perseverance, those words should serves as a witness to others and generating a perception in the minds of others, should be, “But you showed up.” A God-conscious prism lets us see something, does it not?
This Thursday morning, go out determined to earn the accommodation and the applause from as high as heaven above. Let your hearts hear these words as they are a testament to your pursuing “the ship,” “But you showed up.” Yes, let it be that you show up continuously and you show the world that you have been born again. Let it be that you show up and achieve something that others, perhaps even including yourself, thought could not be done. Show up today my friend. And keep in mind that you are assured of going to “the ship” in the final analysis. Think about it! Be blessed!
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Galatians 2:20 NASB)
Mark L. King