Outside the Walls: You’ve Got One Job

“You’ve got one job.”

That’s what my wife, Leisa, tells me every time she sends me to the grocery store. Notoriously, she will send me at the most inopportune times, like when I’m trying to watch college football.

This should be a part of all pastors’ premarital counseling. I would share a few rules with them in “Operation Grocery Store.” First, no more than one item should be requested for pick up without a list. Second, you must put the aisle where the item you are requesting is located. For some reason, grocery store owners think that their placement of food makes sense.

Finally, provide a disguise so that if I run into someone I know, I will not have to have a conversation with them, especially if it is halftime. It never fails. I will most likely run into another husband I know, we will begin talking, and then both of us forget why we are there.

If these rules are not followed, I cannot be held responsible for forgetting why I was sent. I arrive at the store and forget the main item I was to buy. So, I do what most men do: I roam around the store, buying everything that is on sale, and rack up on Duke’s mayo, steak, and moose track ice cream.

When I arrive home, proud of the money I have saved and the 10 bags full of sale items, Leisa meets me at the door.

“Did you get the flour?”

“Why would I get that?” I ask.

“Because it is the only reason I sent you there.”

So maybe you do not suffer from mission amnesia at the grocery store. This may only happen to you with the mission of God.

You may be doing a lot of good things through your local church, but forget the one thing Jesus wanted you to do: make disciples of lost people. Jesus stood before His disciples just before He ascended and said, “Go make disciples (of lost people), baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Teach them to obey” (Matthew 28).

Somewhere along the journey, we changed that to “build nice buildings,” “create gatherings filled with good music and preaching,” “gather together to pray for one another’s health issues,” and “give money to keep everything going.” Nothing wrong with these good things, but we cannot neglect the main thing.

Don’t forget. You’ve got one job! Get it done.