Your Small Ministry has Big Value
We like BIG in Texas and take great pride in the size of our land. Big Tex is the symbol of the State Fair of Texas—the largest in the country. Does smaller make other states lesser in importance? No. (I am aware that some Texans would argue the point.)
We usually equate bigger with better and newer with improved.
The Christian world often applies the world’s perspective to the spiritual. Even if we do not say it out loud, such thoughts are engrained in our thinking—bigger churches are better; starting a new church or ministry is doing something greater for God than serving in an established place; the larger the ministry and the donation, the more God values it; and big-name celebrity Christians can do more to reach people than we no-names can.
It is difficult in such a climate to imagine that God uses us in the everyday and the small. Maybe he does, but not to do big things.
Somehow I don’t think that Jesus assesses importance from size. When the widow give away two small coins, he remarked that she gave more than those who made a show of their great donations (Luke 21:1-4). Jesus took time to raise to life a twelve-year-old girl instead of being among the powerful and rich (Mark 5:35-43). He equated our care of the poor, sick, aliens, and imprisoned as caring for him (Matt. 25:31-40). He spent most of his time during his short three year ministry with twelve regular guys, not a celebrity among them.
When we place Jesus’s values on large ministries and churches, we may find that many of them come up short.
If we look at what we can do for God’s kingdom, it may seem small—much like Jesus wasting time on a child or feeding a stranger, but in God’s eyes those ministries may be more important than filling thousands of seats every Sunday morning.
That means that what you and I do is essential and important in God’s kingdom plan. We are the only ones who can touch certain people and bring them a taste of God’s kingdom. It is time to begin recognizing that each of us has a ministry, and we are here to fulfill it. We are needed for God’s work to go forth in this generation. We are God’s hands and feet in a world that needs to know that God loves everyone, the least of these and the celebrity.
When I was in Kenya, I had the privilege of attending two very small churches, but the love and care they show for one another is big, and I know that God values every sip of cold water given in his name.
This was originally posted on The Aroma of Influence blog on Sept. 20 2014.
3 Comments
Love Shield
No good deed is small
The significance of this message cannot be underestimated. As you said, “It is time to begin recognizing that each of us [already] has a ministry, and [that] we are here [on earth] to fulfill it.”
I believe that if we considered the seriousness of the words Jesus spoke so solemnly at Matthew 25:31-46 we would find the missing key. As I read, I discovered that there is nothing to suggest that we have to hear a voice from heaven, feel inspired, be in the spirit, be be religious, be super strong or healthy or even wealthy and wise to HELP a fellow human being. Nothing!
Both groups were surprised to learn the lord’s reward system was nothing they had in mind.
You already mentioned the value of a cup of cool water. But the story of the Samaritan, that the Lord gave to a “lawyer” who was seeking a copout when he asked who is my neighbor, was punctuated with “Go and do likewise.” Some individuals, of course, will be extreme because of the evil in their hearts and respond like Cain, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
God expects the entire human race to care for each other! But, of course, without this understanding we would rather fix the ozone layer and save some unheard of species from extinction…
Kay Daigle
It’s time to care
Thank you for your comments. We are here to care for each other and for all of God's creation, but as you say, it's often difficult to reach out because of fear or selfishness. Thank you for the reminder.
AmiryxaScafe
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