06/12/2011 - by Chuck Monan, Preaching Minister

 I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism, but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.
~ Acts 10:34,35

On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in major league baseball by playing in a game for the Brooklyn Dodgers.  Before Robinson, the major leagues were for white players only, with black players relegated to the Negro Leagues.  This blatant discrimination bothered Dodger president Branch Rickey, and he chose Robinson to be the player to put an end to segregation in baseball.  Warning Robinson about the incredible hardships he would face from bigots and racists, Rickey asked him what he would do when insulted, attacked and derided.  Robinson said he would fight back.  Rickey admired his spirit but told him he would have to take it without retaliating.  Fighting back would only encourage the bigots in their attacks.  When Brooklyn played the St. Louis Cardinals, Robinson showed his mettle.  Enos Slaughter intentionally spiked Robinson while running the bases, but Robinson didn’t say a word.  He just kept playing.  Many people who were lukewarm or hostile to Robinson’s presence were won over by his honor, dignity and character.  Robinson turned the other cheek and let his bat do the talking.  In doing so, he changed the attitudes of millions and made this country a better place.

Marshall Keeble was born in a log cabin in Tennessee in 1878 to parents who were former slaves.  He obeyed the gospel in his early years, and dedicated the rest of his life to preaching the good news about Jesus.  Keeble likely suffered more insults and injuries than any man of his era.  Whites looked down on him because of his color, while blacks rejected him because of his religion. Persecuted and reviled, Keeble was a fighter in the mold of Jackie Robinson.  He turned the other cheek, and let his character and preaching do his talking.  Keeble understood the importance of fighting evil with good, saying:

We need to shed love abroad to every man.  Love will make you let somebody spit in your face.  But somebody says, “I couldn’t stand that!”  If you go to hell, you’d be glad to let somebody spit in your face.  You can’t go to heaven without loving your enemy.

The world today is better because of the lives of men like Jackie Robinson and Marshall Keeble.  Their legacy continues to teach us that judging people by the color of their skin is wrong.  God has created each one of us in His own image.  We are brothers and sisters.  May the Lord give us the strength to lead the way in teaching the world this lesson it needs desperately to learn.