The Least of These

Some time ago, when I created this blog, I decided to name it in honor of an idea that has long captivated my imagination. The idea? Simple. Small is beautiful. “Learning Small” reflects that deeply held conviction.

The thought that small is beautiful is certainly not to imply that big is ugly or that BIG won’t teach lessons. Over the years, though, God has typically done His best work in me through small things, through the seemingly trivial, the unobtrusive.

I serve what is, in comparison to many churches, a small church. Like many (Most? Come on, guys…) pastors of smaller churches, I have wrestled with my small-ish place in the grand scheme of things.

I’ve wondered as I’ve wandered through life in a small place, does God desire to do something BIG through me? Am I doing something wrong that is keeping me at a small place? Is there something wrong with me that is keeping my church under 10,000 (OK, under 1,000; OK, under 500)?

Then, this afternoon, I got a phone call from a fellow our church helped through a terribly ugly divorce back in 1986. He was a young man then. He worked with his hands as a skilled carpenter. His life was wrecked by the divorce, as many lives are. But, in the months following that divorce, lots of people in our church walked him through that valley. He gained strength and stability. He trusted in Jesus - and then moved from San Antonio and out of our lives.

I hadn’t heard from him for about twenty five years when the phone rang today. He still works with his hands. He has been happily married to a wonderful Christian woman for the last sixteen years. He is still walking with Jesus - and he called to say “Thanks” for the help our church provided to him during the low point of his life.

I don’t tell that story to gain bragging rights. No, I tell it to bring a different metric to the table when measuring the success of a life or of a church.

I wonder if rather than measuring success by more typical standards (money, bodies, buildings), we might better measure success by stories, the stories of lives impacted by love and grace.

Jesus’ life and ministry impacted thousands, true. And by His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead He has saved untold millions. But examine the record of His life as found in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and you’ll see a life chock full of one-on-one conversations and small group interactions.

He impacted people - individuals! - up close and personal. In the end, He entrusted His worldwide ministry to a very few people (eleven men and a few women) who knew Him quite well. I think we would all agree that they did quite well with their mission.

I suspect that the greatest impact is always made face-to-face, one-on-one, life-on-life, within a small circle of intimates.

Impact occurs when a mom or dad speaks grace into the life of a son or a daughter; when an older woman lovingly mentors a struggling young mom; when a man who has been “clean and sober” for six years comes alongside the guy who is having a hard time making it to Day Two and says, “You can do it, buddy. Trust Jesus. One day at a time. I’m with you. I’m praying for you.”

There is no sour grapes-ism to this post. I genuinely thank God for the wonderful large churches in my city of San Antonio where God is doing amazing things.

I’m just wondering if, at the end of time, God will turn to each of us and to each church and say something like, “Well done. You loved ________ really well.”

And who is _______?

The homeless person.
The sad person who tried to make a living as a children’s party clown.
The socially awkward older woman who never married and hates men, anyway.
The guy with mental illness.
The high-powered executive who needed acceptance, not for achievement, but for his basic human worth.
The addict.
The woman involved in the sex trade.
The lonely teen.
The child with learning challenges.
The Pharisee who finally found grace.

When Jesus took the time to reach out to the poor, the oppressed, the leper, and the diseased, He was creating a template for His people to follow for all time.

It is as if He was saying, “I never forgot the least and the last and the lost. Don’t you forget them, either. They are near and dear to My heart. Big is fine, but small is beautiful. And guess what? Put enough smalls together and you get BIG. Really BIG - Kingdom of God sized BIG!”

As seen through the stories of Gideon’s army, David vs. Goliath, and the early church, God often does His best work through small things. He has always been delighted to do His best work through small people like me and you.