By David Lee, BCM/D Executive Director
I don’t know what you call the game. I call it a silly game. In fact, most of the games of similar origin I put in that same category—“silly games.” Some people like those kinds of games. I don’t. But back to the game I was describing. I don’t remember the point of the game. Well, that is not totally true. The game leader referred to it as a mixer. I think it was designed to help us get to know new people. So periodically he would say, “Move.” Then we would all scramble to find a new chair and talk with new people about old things. I didn’t like it the first time I played it. I don’t like it now. It’s not that I don’t enjoy meeting new people. I actually do that all the time. I think it was the feeling that I was being forced to do it over and over again that made me react. Did I mention that I don’t like silly games?
There are times I get that feeling now. Our world is changing so dramatically that it forces us to try new things, go in different directions, and leave our comfortable seats. Now, I am wise enough to know that some of this is actually good for me (and for you). It doesn’t mean we have to like it.
The economy is forcing us to do some evaluation that we knew we needed to do, but hoped we could keep putting off a while longer. Our changing culture is stretching us to dream new ways of doing evangelism and missions just at the time that we were finally getting comfortable with the old ways. The pressure is on. Baptists, as a rule, do not work well under pressure. We can get grumpy and narrow-minded. We can turn on one another, especially if money is involved!
I don’t like old, silly games, but I do like old movies. I always feel a sense of “we can do this” every time I watch one of those classics. It is usually the same storyline. A group of people journey through a dangerous piece of real estate. The leader stands before the group and says, “We can do this if we all stick together.”
Therein lies the real point of this article. We can do this if we all stick together.