Unity of purpose

by Linzy Slayden

First of all, special thanks go to Pastor Bruce Humbert and the people of Sauk Trail Baptist Temple for a wonderful fellowship meeting. And then I thank you for the confidence you have placed in me by electing me president of the Baptist Bible Fellowship Interna­tional. I look forward to getting to know the pastors, missionaries, and working committees of the BBFI better.

What I want to talk about in this column is something God des­perately desires for His people. It is one thing that Satan fears and works day and night to undo. It is something for which Jesus him­self prayed just before He went to the cross. It is the one thing the Bible says will convince people that the church has something the world does not. It is something that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is meant to accomplish. What is it that I am talking about? Unity. It is important for any relationship but especially important for the cause of Christ. We all desire it in our churches, and we desire it for our Fellowship.

While no one expects uniformity or unanimity in our Fellow­ship, I do believe we can have unity, and by that I mean oneness of purpose. I am talking about strong-minded, God-called men com­ing together for a common purpose — world evangelism. The BBFI has been called “the greatest church producing machine of the past century” and “one of the greatest evangelical lifeboats of our time.” Somebody said, “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; but working together is success,” and I for one do not think the Lord is finished with the BBFI.

In Psalm 133, King David compares unity to dew, and in that hot Mediterranean climate, dew is absolutely vital to plant life. Dew is like refreshing lotion that God sends to lubricate that dry parched land there in the nation of Israel. You can get up in the morning and see dew on the grass sparkling like a million diamonds in the sun. It is so refreshing you can almost smell it in the air. I don’t have to tell you that in our work, unity and harmony are like the morn­ing dew on a parched and thirsty land. In the absence of rain, and with no irrigation, there was not a more beautiful sight to a Hebrew farmer than that morning dew he knew was sent from God to water his crops.

There is nothing sweeter than when the dew of unity falls on our efforts. You see, the dew makes the land green; it makes it fer­tile; it makes it fruitful; it increases productivity. Dew gives the land its greatest potential to do what it was created to do; be fruitful for its Creator. What dew does for the land, unity does for the work of the Lord. I’m limited in what I can do alone for God. However, we are virtually unlimited by what we can do together with the Lord’s blessing.