The Art of the Blacksmith-Ancient Practice, Modern Principle

Blacksmithing, it’s all about developing raw material

The writer of the book of Samuel records a great truth that unveils both the purposes of God and the plots of Lucifer. The story is disclosed in I Samuel 13:16-23. The setting is this; the Philistines had finally conquered the Israelites and in order to keep them under their rule, they removed the blacksmiths out of the land. How clever!

We usually don’t stop to give much thought to this - but allow me to ponder this a moment. Israel was an agricultural society; plows, hoes, picks, and axes, were an absolute must for survival. Concerning Israel’s weapons, the enemy didn’t remove them; they merely took away their ability to create new ones and to maintain the old. No new weapons - dysfunctional old ones.

I hope your following my train of thought. Our job in the church today is the all important job of the blacksmith – taking the raw material of humanity and turning it into something useful for the kingdom. In Israel’s case, remove the blacksmith, paralyze the nation – in the church’s case, remove the teaching/discipleship ministry and paralyze the church.

With that in mind, here are four quick thoughts about blacksmithing:

 1) Blacksmithing requires constant work with raw material.

Raw material is representative of unrefined, imperfect people. Never forget that most of the bible’s greatest heroes came from raw material. I find it strange that in the church we often prefer “finished product” above raw material.

Never refuse to work with raw material. I believe the greatest sculptures are yet to be chiseled. Have we forgotten that we were all raw material at one time?

2) Blacksmithing requires participating in the meltdown of the raw material.

In days of old, the blacksmith was required to melt down the raw material before it could become useful. The reason is – it was impure in its natural state. The same is true in working with souls. Unfortunately, we don’t like this part of the process but nevertheless, it must happen.

Most raw material very rarely resembles the finished product.

3) Blacksmithing requires pouring and shaping raw material into a new mold.

All raw materials have to take on another form and shape. This speaks of following God’s plan for our lives. We begin to take on another shape only when we follow God’s plan and sacrifice for His cause.

Discipleship and training helps shape God’s servants and prepares them to take on the image of Christ.

4) Blacksmithing requires sharpening and honing new tools and weapons.

It is a given that even people with transformed lives, have rough edges. In the natural, almost all new weapons and tools have rough edges – they need honing, tempering and sharpening.

Two things knock off our rough edges: anointed teaching and life’s rough spots. If we don’t learn by mentoring, coaching and anointed teaching, we usually have to learn the hard way.

Conclusion

The church is all about blacksmithing. She is called to take raw material and shape it into a finished product. Are you skilled at blacksmithing? What are you doing to shape a life today?

 Blacksmithing – it’s all about developing raw material for God.

Coach John

Comments

[Karyn]

Thanks for this article! It's wonderful to see how Christians are impacting the world through the internet. For a great blog that's assisting Christians to navigate the often bewildering territory of love and relationships in an increasingly secular world.

[Wade Thompson]

Hey John,
Great insight and metaphor for those of us who are working with "Diamonds in the Rough"..sometimes it is hard to see through the raw material to the finished product! Thanks for helping us visualize the end product! Wade Thompson- Germany