by Linzy Slayden
In 1948, two brothers by the names of Richard and Maurice McDonald, converted their barbeque drive-in with carhops into the world’s first McDonald’s limited-menu, self-service, drive-in in San Bernardino, CA.
In 1954, a man by the name of Ray Kroc mortgaged his home and invested his entire life’s savings to become the exclusive distributor of a five-spindled milkshake maker called the Multimixer. He heard about this McDonald’s hamburger stand in California that was running eight Multimixers at one time. So he packed up his car and headed west.
Ray Kroc said he had never seen so many people served so quickly in all of his life. He walked into the restaurant, met these two brothers, and offered them one simple idea. Why don’t you open up more than one restaurant? He was convinced he could sell eight of his Multimixers to every one of them. They said, “Who could we get to open them for us?” Ray Kroc answered, “What about me?”
In 1955, Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald’s franchise in Des Plaines, IL. And, as they say, the rest is history. Today there are 33,000 McDonald’s in 118 countries, selling more hamburgers than any other restaurant on planet earth.
How did this happen? Because Ray Kroc understood a principle that is found in the Bible, whether he realized it or not, and the principle is this one: Two are better than one (Eccl. 4:9). There is an unbelievable power in partnership that goes beyond addition to multiplication.
This principle of partnership, of two being better than one, is also found in the New Testament. In fact, the word saint appears 95 times in the New Testament … and it is always plural. Every time you read the word it is saints — because you can’t have just one. A saint ain’t! Saints come in twos and threes.
There is power in partnership. Two are better than one. Has it ever occurred to you that there are three things that we all need, but you can never have alone? We need companionship, but one cannot be a companion to himself. We need comfort, but one cannot be a comfort to himself. We need counsel, but one cannot counsel himself.
There is an old Swedish proverb that says, “A shared joy is a double joy, and a shared sorrow is half a sorrow.”
That is the power of working together. That is the focus of our February BBFI meeting.
Pastor Vic Bledsoe has planned a meeting with preachers and workshops that will be exciting and inspiring. There is a buffet of breakout options offered. Each will include practical, in-the-trenches stuff to help you in your ministry. This is a great time to be with those who share the ministry road with you.
We also will host a State Rep/State Chairman and wives’ luncheon on Wednesday. I hope you will attend and experience the power of partnership in the greatest work in the world.