by Linzy Slayden
Writers take the letters of the alphabet, combine them into words, and the words into sentences and paragraphs, and produce what we call literature. Painters take dabs of colors from their palettes and put them in the right places on the canvas and we call it art. Composers take the notes of a musical scale and give us music.
The same is true with sports. I remember my high school football coach screaming about the basics of blocking and tackling. Coach John Wooten would take his basketball players to the center of the court on the first day of practice at UCLA and start by teaching them how to tie their shoes. Talk about basics! We want our church members to grow so we start with the basics to give them sure foundation.
The May meeting was wonderful. It was like a good family reunion. An emphasis was placed on being a goal-oriented Fellowship instead of an issue-oriented Fellowship. I believe this should be a basic for us. Through our churches we intend to win souls, baptize believers, make disciples, and reproduce ourselves with new churches here in the U.S. and around the world. When we consider the cities in our nation and of the world, it brings us to the basic of missions! This means building churches here and sending missionaries to do the same around the world.
Yes, we must be goal-oriented. This goal is not man made. It is a biblical goal. We have the mandate from the Lord Jesus and the pattern is in the book of Acts. With this we cannot disagree. Our nation and our world desperately need the soul-saving, life-saving gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Vance Havner used to tell about the time General Stonewall Jackson needed to get his army across a river, so he ordered the engineers to build a bridge. He also told his wagon master to get the wagon train across the river as soon as possible once the bridge was completed. The wagon master — a former blacksmith — got a group of men together, and with rocks, logs, fence rails, and other various materials built a bridge and got all the wagons over the river safely. Early the next morning the wagon master reported this to General Jackson, and the amazed general asked, “Where are the engineers?” The wagon master said, “They’re over there in a tent, drawing pictures and planning a bridge.” Vance Havner’s comment was, “We need a few blacksmiths to get across the river.”
I find myself identifying with that wagon master, because I want to be a bridge builder. I want to focus on getting the job done. Our goal should be to work together to reach the world with the gospel. Imagine what we could do together with no personal agendas and no one caring who gets the credit. Let’s bring our combined strength to the work and do something great for God. This is basic. This is our goal.