Back to the Basics

Playing sports growing up I learned through some really good coaches on  how essential the basic fundamentals are to achieving success. We had a football coach that would spend the first week lining our defense up in position and then go from person to person asking them what their assignment is. He would reinforce that everyone just simply needs to fill their role and we don’t need any heroes on the field. There was a basketball coach that would spend the first 15 minutes of every practice running triple threat drills. The triple threat is the position you want to be in every time you catch the ball so you can either pass, dribble or shoot. Mastering these fundamentals could make average players good and good players great. They are essential.

As members of the body of Christ there are some important fundamentals for us. Assuming you are actually a born again Christian that is and not a nominal believer. As followers of Christ God continues to work in us and through us when we obey Him especially in the fundamentals of the faith. As Charles Spurgeon said, “The Holy Spirit will not do for you what you can do for yourself.” Here are some basic fundamentals that we value at ONElife:

1. Worship God privately and publicly.
   The triune God has called us to worship Him. This means we should have a daily habit of reading the Bible and praying as well as a weekly habit of worshiping publicly with the church body. Without this our growth will be hindered. This means that these should be two of the most important things in our calendars and we work our lives around them. The poor condition of the church today may be because most believers don’t read their Bibles and on average attend 1.6 worship gatherings per month. These are basics to growing in grace.
   
   
2. Live in community with a smaller group of Christians.
   Jesus modeled this by choosing His 12 disciples and literally doing life together. We can best emulate this by being part of a ONElife Group that meets in a home in the local community that we live in. This will help establish these community relationships.  
   
   
3. Get trained to lead and sent out on mission in your sphere of influence.
   Essential to getting trained is to find a mentor. Most people want a caregiver to serve them telling them how unique and amazing they are and yet few will seek out the greater need they have which is to find a mentor. Pursue a mentor and seek their wisdom and counsel in every area of your life. Also, fall in love with reading good books as this is a way to be mentored by godly leaders of all generations.
   
   
4. Make disciples.
   Yes, actually going out into the world and making disciples. Don’t pontificate of how effective of a disciple maker you will make... just go do it! It seems those that are the biggest “experts” at this are the ones that have the least amount of experience. Build relationships with non-believers, engage them in discussion and dialog, and invite them to Christ and His church community. It is going to be messy and you will often feel like you have no clue what you are doing. This is exactly where God wants you to be as you will be dependent upon Him in these moments. Get uncomfortable and make disciples.

Contributor / Eric Stewart
Eric Stewart is the Lead Pastor of ONElife Church in Flint, MI.​