Come Together

Coach Boone:  This is where they fought the battle of Gettysburg.  Fifty thousand men died right here on this field, fighting the same fight that we are still fighting among ourselves today.  This green field right here, painted red, bubblin' with the blood of young boys.  Smoke and hot lead pouring right through their bodies.  Listen to their souls, men.  I killed my brother with malice in my heart.  Hatred destroyed my family.  You listen, and you take a lesson from the dead.  If we don't come together right now on this hallowed ground, we too will be destroyed, just like they were.  I don't care if you like each other or not, but you will respect each other.  And maybe...  I don't know, maybe we'll learn to play this game like men. ~quote from Remember the Titans (PG) Remember the Titans is near if not right at the top of my all-time favorite movie list.  Denzel is incredible as Coach Boone and the story itself is an amazing one.  The messages sent in this movie are as or more powerful than the crushing hits you see on the playing field.  It's something special to see people come together in the midst of difficult circumstances and that's what this movie is all about. In the day where segregation was normal, two high schools were combined.  One school was all white and the other was all black.  The story is of the football team of that now combined school and how they overcame racial odds to have one of the best teams in history.  There was much struggle and teammates were often at each other's throats, but when they finally came together and started working as a team... amazing things started to happen.  The above speech Coach Boone gave to his team was one of the turning points in the story.  He inspired those young men to put aside their differences and work as a unit. I believe the church of today could use the same message.  Often we are at each other's throats instead of working together in unity.(a)  We point fingers and put other's failures on display to show the world how much better we are.(b)  Sadly, this is not the church Jesus had in mind when he spoke of the Kingdom.(c)  It's not the church he was thinking of when He chose to sacrifice His life for us.(d)  We won't spread the gospel with hate... it's about love. If we don't come together... we too will be destroyed.  We don't have to like each other, but we must respect one another.  And maybe... just maybe we'll reach the world with the love of God. a: Ephesians 4:3; b: Matthew 7:3-5; c: Matthew 24:14; d: John 19:30