The Karate Kid and the Life of Faith

     Few movies get my blood moving like The Karate Kid.  A young boy has to move to a new and unfamiliar place.  He is immediately targeted by a bully, beaten, and harassed.  Almost hopeless, he is paired with an eccentric teacher to learn how to defend himself.  The final scene is a dramatic showdown during a karate competition. Injured and almost out of the finals, Daniel preforms the infamous crane kick, standing on one leg, raising the injured leg out of the way.  As Johnny makes his way towards him, Daniel unleashes a brutal kick to the face, knocks down his enemy, wins the match, gets the girl, pleases his now beloved mentor and is literally carried off in victory.  If that final scene does not make your blood move, I am not sure what will.  I was a young teenager when it was released, and I, like many of my peers, immediately wanted to sign up for karate.  I wanted to be Daniel-Son.  

     Karate Kid ends with a memorable and triumphant victory.  But the entire story is actually about the series of small tasks that make that victory possible.  Long before he was defeating his enemies on the mat, Daniel was training in unorthodox and seemingly pointless ways.  For hours under the watchful eye of his coach, he painted the fence, sanded the floor, and spent his days learning to buff a car “wax on, wax off.”  As it turned out, these small steps of training built muscle memory, created detailed strategic improvements, and eventually made possible the enormous victory.  

     My high school football coach used to teach us, “take care of the little things, and the big things will take care of themselves.”  The SportsCenter moments are really all about the minutia done well.  The 70 yard touchdown run never happens unless somebody blocks well, takes the handoff cleanly, or attacks the line of scrimmage.  It’s true in the Karate Kid.  It’s true in football.  And it’s true in life.  

     “If you are not faithful in small things, you will not be faithful in the big things.  If you do not take care of the little things, how will you handle the big things?”

     We all want the big victories; we want an intimate and strong marriage.  Yet that begins with listening, and folding laundry, and making small deposits of time and effort for your spouse when your time is tight, attention is divided, and there is other stuff to do that seems more pressing.  We want financial security to live comfortably, retire well, and meet the needs and wants of our family.  Yet what we do with our next paycheck, even our next $20, is the reality that will determine the direction of our financial future.  We want a faith that is vibrant, life-empowering, and deeply connected to God.  Yet faith like that is built through mere moments of choosing God over and over.  It is a lifestyle of choosing worship, choosing to seek God in prayer throughout your days, choosing to live out generosity, and choosing to open and seek out wisdom the Bible little bites at a time.

     What is the “big thing” you have wanted in your life?  What is the big thing you are hoping for your family, your job, or your faith?  Answer that, then choose, what is the next small thing on that path?  Choosing to be faithful begins with the simple act of choosing the next right thing, choosing consistent small steps towards your “big thing”.  The seemingly mundane daily tasks of integrity move us in the direction of our dreams.  There is no touchdown with hours of practice blocking.  There is no Crane Kick without ‘wax on, wax off’.  Begin to take care of the little things, and the big things will begin to take care of themselves.