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I wrote yesterday about Krulak’s Law: The closer you get to the front, the more power you have over the brand. Krulak was a Commandant of the US Marine Corps and saw the law in action as Marines interacted with people in foreign countries. 

If we in the church took this principle seriously, would we be more intentional about training? If we recognized that church is not supposed to be a “Performance at a Place with Programs run by Professionals” (as David Platt characterizes most churches in his excellent little book A Radical Idea), would we use the church’s gathered time to equip the folks for their scattered time?

I wrote back in 2014, when my grandson graduated from Marine boot camp, that Marines know what they’re about: they make Marines and win battles. Boot camp is the first transformation that a young Marine experiences. “Every Marine is a rifleman” is another mantra I heard then.

Marines are intentional about making Marines who will win battles.

May we in the church be as intentional!

And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach… (Mark 3.14, ESV)

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. (Ephesians 4.11, 12, ESV)