It's Supposed to be Hard

Have you ever seen the movie "A League of Their Own"? Ok, it's not a nice, Christian movie, but it has some great movie lines in it. It's the story of the Women's Baseball League, that took over the game during World War 2. The best player on the team is about to go home, because her husband has returned from the war, and when Jimmy (the coach), asks her why, she said, "It just got too hard". And this is his answer. You have to hear Tom Hanks say it to really get the impact, but I love this line.

Jimmy Dugan: It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great.

You know, our lives as Christians are supposed to be hard. If we can live with the hard for just a while, we can spend eternity in the “great”. One of the biggest things that bug me is when the choir complains about how much work it is to do Christmas musicals and Easter musicals. (whining) “I’m just too busy. I don’t have time to memorize and come to extra rehearsals.” Or, "I can't teach", or "Serve" or...well...you fill in the blank.

But in view of everything God did for us, in view of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, how can we complain about anything being hard? We have it easy when you think of things that way. It’s the hard that makes the Christian life worth living, that separates us from the rest of the world. And not to take pride in that separateness for the sake of being separate, but to strive for holiness in response to what God has done for us, in response to the cross. It’s the hard that makes it great.