Giftings, Greatness and Faithfulness

Small things done by ‘small’ people can have a real impact:

Back in 1974 a collection of 16 sermons by Francis Schaeffer called No Little People was published (IVP; reissued by Crossway in 2003). The very first sermon featured is, “No Little People, No Little Places.” The sermon ended with these powerful words:

Each Christian is to be a rod of God in the place of God for him. We must remember throughout our lives that in God’s sight, there are no little people and no little places. Only one thing is important: to be consecrated persons in God’s place for us, at each moment. Those who think of themselves as little people and little places, if committed to Christ and living under His Lordship and the whole of life may, by God’s grace, change the flow of our generation. And as we get on a bit in our lives, knowing how weak we are, if we look back and see we have been somewhat used of God, then we should be the rod “surprised by joy.”

We must always keep this in mind. Being content with God and seeking to be faithful should be the goal of all believers. It is not desiring great things, but desiring to be and do all that God has for us. That might mean we end up doing amazing things that much of the world – or at least much of the church – knows about.

But for most of us it will mean we do little things as little people that get little or no recognition or praise. However, God knows, and God sees. That should be sufficient for all followers of Christ.

Three things have come together in the past few days that all relate to this matter, so let me speak to each. My morning Bible readings have me back in the gospel of Mark. In Mark 12:41-44 we read about the widow’s offering:

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

That tells us much about the matters of faithfulness, obedience and devotion to God. She had very little by way of material wealth, but what she had she used for God. But those who had great wealth were using little of that for God. Which ones were really serving God faithfully?

Two recent writings that others alerted me to also tie in with this. One was a short article just recently by penned Tim Challies that someone been posted on the social media. Titled “Great Gifts but Little Faithfulness,” it begins this way:

God does not distribute his gifts equally among all his children. Rather, to some he gives much and to others he gives little. Some are given great opportunities while others are given minimal opportunities, and some are given massive wealth while others are given paltry wealth or even straight-out poverty. Some have towering intellects while others are well below average, and some are able to receive a world-class education while others are able to receive no education at all. God, in his sovereignty, determines all of this.

 

The God who distributes his gifts unequally evaluates us fairly. He evaluates us on the basis of what he has given to us, not what he has given to another. To the one who has been given much, God expects much while to the one who has been given less, God expects less. The one whom God has created to be simple-minded is not expected to write great works or preach great sermons. The one who has been given little wealth is not expected to fund great institutions or support great missionary ventures. Rather, we are each to be faithful with what God has given to us so that the impoverished widow who gives two pennies receives the same commendation as the rich man who gives billions. I am convinced eternity will show that some of the people who honored God most fully by making the best of their gifts were all the while entirely unnoticed by the likes of you and me.

Challies briefly mentions the Parable of the Talents as found in Matthew 25:14-30 and then concludes this way:

Some have been given great wealth but cling to it tightly while others have been given little wealth but spread it around plentifully. Some live in great mansions but rarely open their doors while others live in tiny homes but extend hospitality with generosity. Some have great natural speaking ability but prepare sermons lazily while others are shy and hesitant but apply themselves diligently. In other words, some make little of much and others make much of little.

 

It would be strange and probably thoughtless for any of us to approach another person and share our belief that they are among the ones to whom God has given little. Yet pondering all of this makes me want to raise a cheer for them—for those who know themselves to be of few gifts but great faithfulness. It makes me want to commend the ones who know God has not given to them as much as he may have given to others but who have received what he has assigned to them with contentment and who have determined that they will make the absolute most of it. It makes me want to say a “well done” to those who have decided that instead of resenting what God has not given them they will embrace what he has given them, and steward it with faithfulness. For these are the ones who please him, who honor him, and who magnify his name. https://www.challies.com/articles/great-gifts-but-little-faithfulness/  

The other piece of writing that connects with these themes came from an overseas friend (thanks Hugh). He kindly had sent to me two books. I told him that this was a risky undertaking, given all the books that I already have. But it turns out that I did not have either book.

One of them was Dream Small by Irish pastor Seth Lewis (The Good Book Company, 2022). The book speaks to what has already been discussed here: being content to be ordinary, small, little, but seeking to have great faith in God. Or better still, being content in having faith in a great God.

As mentioned, most of us will never be big deals, big cheeses, at least in the eyes of others. We will be nobodies for the most part – just ordinary people. But if we remain faithful and committed, we have a God in heaven who WILL know all about us. Lewis discusses Adam and Eve and then says this:

You, too, are small. But you, too, are made to know God. You are made to relate to him, to experience his love and care, and to express the same to the rest of his creation. Even today, right now, you can speak with the God who spoke the stars into existence. You can talk to him directly about the mundane stuff of daily life, like thanking him that the roses smell how they do, and coffee tastes as good as it does. You can ask for his help with the drama at work, or the family member making bad decisions, or the friend who is suffering in sickness. You can listen to what he says about the role he has for you in the world he made, and seek his strength to live it out. You may be small, but the God of the entire universe loves you and sees you as valuable and significant. You are not too small for him. You are not too ordinary for him. He made you to know him, and he wants you to know him. You may be small, but the High King of everything would like to take a walk with you. (pp. 37-38)

And he says this in the closing paragraphs of the book:

Obedience to God, faithful service to others, humility, sacrifice—these things may not look like treasure to the people around you, but don’t worry about what they think. Don’t worry about the furniture, either, or any other dream you might have to let go of. God made you for more than the biggest dreams on Earth can give you.

 

You are here for a purpose. You were carefully crafted with a perfect plan in mind. You are a character in the greatest story ever told, and your life, and your actions, and your decisions—even today—can send shockwaves into eternity. Maybe the role God has for you is big and public. Maybe it is quiet, behind the scenes, where hardly anyone will notice. Don’t worry about that. You can invest in loving God and loving the people he loves from wherever you are, and the best ways to do that have always been the closest, most ordinary, most overlooked and underappreciated ways, like humble service to humble people and time spent with God and all the little ways we can remind each other of God’s truth and God’s love and the big story he made us to be a part of.

 

Right now, today, you can dream small in your work, focusing your effort on honouring God and benefitting the people he made in his image. You can dream small at home, in the slow and steady repetition of provision and service and love. You can dream small by investing in your local church, leveraging your gifts to serve Christ’s body on earth. You can dream small by spending time in God’s word and prayer, alone and with other believers, soaking God’s love and truth into your soul and receiving the strength you need to live the life he made you for. You can dream small by cleaning the toilets for your family, looking after a sick relative made in God’s image, listening to a friend, helping a stranger, seeking out the unpopular, giving money, giving time and attention, giving your strengths and talents and weakness and ordinariness and whatever else you have for God and his kingdom of people he loves.

 

Don’t settle for less. “Run in such a way as to get the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24). “Throw off everything that hinders you and the sin that so easily entangles” (Hebrews 12:1) and don’t look back. Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith, who formed you for his story before you were born and wrote all your days in a book. “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life” of faithfulness and love for God and others (1 Thessalonians 4:11). Find the treasure in the field. Find the joy of turning the ladders of success upside down.

 

Dream small. (pp. 114-116)

Good words indeed.

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