When the great football coach, Vince Lombardi, met with his players every year for their summer training and conditioning he would pick up the ball, show it to them and say, "Gentlemen, this is a football." It is a well known fact that the secret of his success was due to the fact that he was a stickler on basics. I believe the same must be true of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Often we need to remind ourselves what Jesus meant for the church to be. We need to reminded, “This is why we are here."
Our service, whether it be on a mission field or in a local congregation needs to be on target with God’s purposes. However, I have found that leaders and followers have to continually return to basics. Whether we are teaching leaders in developing countries or developed countries, we always begin with the same two or three lessons that bring us back to biblical basics. It does no good to start teaching the “how-to’s� of leadership if we do not understand the God’s perspective on what a leaders should be and where the Lord puts the priorities.
“God never changes� is a constant theme in our teaching. Methods change, cultures bring their insights to leadership structure, but God’s principles never change. Today we hear a lot about Church Planting Movements, missional churches and emerging churches. I think each of these have valuable points that we need to consider and employ. However, whether we are the newest movement on the cutting edge, or locked in the traditions of time, let us all remember, “Gentlemen, this is God’s Church� and there are some basics that never change.