My family was once HUGE Braves fans. We went to spring training. Went to games in Atlanta. Went to minor league games all over the southeast. When the Braves minor league team came to Birmingham, we invited some of them to the house for cookouts! I guess you could say that we became “experts’ on baseball. (If y’all remember back in some earlier lessons I have said that everyone has a god and I guess ours was, at the time, baseball! Not proud of this, just stating facts.)
Anyway, Bull Durham probably came closer to capturing what baseball, primarily minor league baseball, is like.
The main characters are a young pitching phenom (Nuke LaLoosh – Tim Robbins) and a nearly washed up but knowledgeable catcher (Crash Davis – Kevin Costner) that is brought in to mentor the prize prospect. A favorite scene is when Crash teaches the young pitcher how to handle interviews with the press.
Crash Davis: "It's time to work on your interviews."
Nuke LaLoosh: "My interviews? What do I gotta do?"
Crash Davis: "You're gonna have to learn your clichés. You're gonna have to study them, you're gonna have to know them. They're your friends. Write this down: "We gotta play it one day at a time."
Nuke LaLoosh: "Got to play… it's pretty boring."
Crash Davis: "Course it's boring, that's the point. Write it down."
Do you realize that the journey with Jesus is simply living it one day at a time. Write it down. You can't live in regret of the past. It is forgiven. You can't live in fear of the future. It is in God's Hands. You live in the moment, one day at a time, trusting Him for that day. That's the point. Play it one day at a time.
Someone once said:
"God didn't call me to be spectacular. He called me to be faithful."
Write it down.
Another quote from the movie Bull Durham is very meaningful.
"This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains."
In many ways Christianity is a very simple faith that we have made incredibly legalistic and difficult. To paraphrase the line above. "You love the Lord your God. You love your neighbor. Sometimes it is easy. Sometimes it is hard. Sometimes life rains on you."
Why do we want to make it so maddeningly complex? Jesus said that two things are the most important.
One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” (Mark 12:28-3)
How simple to understand is this? I didn’t ask how simple to do, just how simple to understand. We can not do this without Jesus’s help!
Why have we ever tried to make it anything else? The scholar who heard the words of Jesus "got it".
“The teacher of religious law replied, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other. And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law.” (Mark 12:32-32)
How do you suppose “the body of Christ” (Which is His church according to the Bible. Not the building, but the people.) would look if we concentrated on those two simple commands? Would we worry so much about the worship music style, what people wear, what translation of the Bible is used, or the carpet color? Why do we get so fired up about what other Christians are doing and other people are saying? Why do we care so much about being treated fairly and getting what we deserve? If we concentrated on those two commands we would be so much happier and effective for Christ. We would experience and give grace.
But do we get it? Do I get it? Or do we still get sidetracked by life and pride and worries? It is really very simple. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart. Read the Word daily. Love others as you love yourself. That is what Jesus told me to do. Nothing about programs or positions or curriculum or strategies.
Love God. Love others.
Write it down.
Listen to this song at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrsisruycV8
Loving God, loving each other
Loving God, loving each other,
Making music with my friends;
Loving God, loving each other,
And the story never ends.
They pushed back from the table
To listen to His words,
His secret plan before He had to go.
It's not complicated;
Don't need a lot of rules,
This is all you'll need to know.
Loving God, loving each other,
Making music with my friends;
Loving God, loving each other,
And the story never ends.
We tend to make it harder,
Build steeples out of stone,
Fill with explanations of The Way,
But if we'd stop and listen
And break a little bread,
We would hear the Master say
Loving God, loving each other,
Making music with my friends;
Loving God, loving each other,
And the story never ends.
For prayer requests, comments or to be included in our email ministry, email us at: whosoever@cottagehillbaptist.org
Check out our “blog” at: http://thewhosoevers.blogspot.com/
Check out our “blog” at: http://thewhosoevers.blogspot.com/
