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TableTalk is a growing archive of snippets and stories from the heart of our fellowship. Whatever it takes… October 1, 2002
Posted by Lindquist in : Editorial , add a comment"I can do all things through him who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13)
We have been building, here in Minneapolis. Our praying friends may have noticed: in the last year we have deconstructed and reconstructed our lovely old Mission Home on Clifton Avenue - and it has been a job. More than ever before in my life, I suppose, I have watched the weekly ads from Home Depot. I have carted more crumbled plaster and lathing, hung more sheet rock, and swept more debris than I have for a long, long time. More than I care to, for some long time to come.
A few weeks ago I noticed the dramatic completion of another building project, immensely larger and more complicated than our little effort. On September 11, 2002, the newly repaired Pentagon was rededicated - one year after Flight 77 slammed into its western exposure.
One year. It is a mind-blowing accomplishment. The Pentagon itself is the largest building on earth. The area affected by last year’s attack was four hundred thousand square feet - the equivalent of two cavernous Home Depot stores. In twelve months it was taken down and rebuilt again. And what is more mind-blowing: Pentagon management projected a three year construction schedule. It was crews on the job - inspired masons, stone-cutters, pipe-fitters, electricians - who insisted that they could do it quicker. They worked around the clock. They recruited volunteers. Paint was donated. Quarried limestone was contributed. I am told that inmates requested additional volunteer shifts in at least one prison carpentry shop, to complete furniture and desks by September.
Stephen Ludden is a 46-year-old foreman from Springfield, at work on the site. In an interview with the Washington Post, Ludden reported that the ground rules for his crew are simple: Do whatever it takes to keep going. "Everybody in the nation is committed to this job site now," he said. Do whatever it takes (www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25909-2002Feb17.html).
G.K. Chesterton once remarked that the problem with Christianity is not that it has been tried and found wanting, but that it has been found difficult and left untried. The same might be said of world mission. It is difficult. It is increasingly dangerous. It will demand our highest effort, our thorough commitment, our deepest involvement. Indeed, it is a job that will not get done until we are ready to do whatever it takes. I am reminded of a book I read some while ago, Myths About Missions, by Horace Fenton (InterVarsity Press, 1973). Fenton proposed a logical pairing that I have not forgotten: "Either Christ was deceived in believing that the job can be done, or we are deceived in believing that it cannot."
What do you think? Can we engage the Muslim world for Jesus? Can we identify and penetrate the remaining frontiers? Can we get the job done? The ground rules will be simple. We must be prepared to participate "whatever it takes."
"The Way I See It", October 2002
© Copyright 2002 (World Mission Prayer League). All rights reserved.