Beyond Grandiose (in the works)

BEYOND GRANDIOSE

Preface Our culture tells us “not to sweat the small stuff” as though the small stuff is inconsequential. However being inconsequential in the eyes of the world is not the same as making little difference.

If you have faith the size of a mustard seed," the Lord said, "you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.”

-Luke 17:6 (Holman translation)

Unless otherwise noted all Scriptural passages are the Holman translation extracted from eSword © 2010

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Chapter 1 This concern of mine with “small” in the eyes of the world and “small” in the eyes of God has been a point of irritation with me for some time now. As the minister to a loosely affiliated group of believers, and the ability to seemingly touch no more than one soul at a time, it occurs to me that it is not necessary to slam the world with large influences to affect change. In fact, the best and most lasting impact on people who are seeking Jesus is to take the time necessary to show them how to live as you also teach them the reality of a risen Savior and the academics of Biblical study.

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It is simply not enough to attend costly seminars, or read complicated books on the latest church growth patterns.

What happens is ‌ after the seminars are over and the books pile up one after another on your coffee table (there are so many out there that this one may be overkill) you begin to feel small and ineffectual yourself.

How can anyone compete with authors who have a global outreach, half a dozen satellite campus locations, seven thousand member congregations and book tours that are more like rock and roll shows? The truth is that most of us in ministry cannot compete with that level of mission, nor should we attempt to compare ourselves, and our fledgling bands of followers, with that model.

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Most of us survive on a shoestring budget, and are not always as sure as we would like to be that we are actually making a dent in the problems and challenges we face.

Naturally, it a normal human desire to want to know if we are making a difference in the lives of those we serve; and we want to know if we are creating successful outcomes when we do the simple things we refer to as “our calling.�

Hebrews 5:4 No one takes this honor on himself; instead, a person is called by God, just as Aaron was.

In theory, if everyone who reads this book touches one person with a lasting impression of who Jesus Christ truly is, and each one of those people touches another, [4]

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and so forth ‌ then in almost no time we could touch more lives than a megachurch on steroids!

Probably the best way to accomplish this, which is the least well-defined way in churchdom, is to disciple people in the manner that a journeyman would mentor an apprentice iron worker, electrician or millwright. We will get to that later.

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Chapter 2 What is too small? Nothing is too small if it honors God and gives Him the glory. It doesn’t take much to get God’s attention. A sparrow drops dead and God notices. There are a blue million sparrows so God has very keen observation and micromanagement skills. He takes notice if one soul repents. He takes notice if one person quits using drugs. He takes notice if one band of believers takes in a difficult individual in an effort to direct a life. God notices.

Mark 12:41-42 Sitting across from the temple treasury, He watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury. Many rich people were putting in large sums.

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And a poor widow came and dropped in two tiny coins worth very little.

God noticed that the smallest amount had the greatest impact if it was given with gratitude and with a pure heart. The poor widow in this story gave what little she had. The two most important people in the room noticed: the widow and God. If we are going to get beyond grandiose and find success in our every day walk with God, just how do we define success and by what do you gauge it? Is it attendance that grows at an anticipated rated based on statistical probability? Is it an ever burgeoning revenue stream that allows you to buy up a large mortgage on a coveted piece of real estate? Is it program after program and seminar after seminar that suggests you have made it [7]

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and God approves? Or is it the time we all take to make a small difference each day between Sundays right where we work and live? Do we serve where we live and work? Truth be told we probably could do better with that aspect of personal mission.

If we love and we provide hope in the name of Jesus Christ we have hit a ground rule home run. I do not believe that we are asked to do more than that. All of the additions and embellishments we pile onto our ministries do not generally do more than loving someone who considers themselves unlovable. The currency of the kingdom is love so in God’s terms we are experiencing a gospel of real prosperity in kingdom terms when we show unconditional love. The greatest prosperity occurs in the places where it is least [8]

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anticipated. If a cactus blooms in a desert it is far more captivating than if it bloomed in a greenhouse full of them. By our fruit we are known (to bloom) in the most unexpected places. And, if only you and I and God know it, does it make the blossom less beautiful (or the fruit less tasty)?

Is it necessary to bear a lot of fruit or that the fruit we bear is good?

Matthew 12:33 "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.�

This is an issue of quality first and quantity second. If it were not so then a bad tree bearing an abundance of bad fruit could claim merit for itself because of its large harvest.

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