Pastor's Blog: The Power of a Steady Drip
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Most of us tend to be impressed with the spectacular. Whether it’s an entertainment event or a special sale or an extraordinary accomplishment, we associate its value with how much it exceeds normal expectations. Hence the saying: “Bigger is better.”
I have no beef with bigness. I like to be wowed just as much as the next person, especially when life gets rote and mundane. It’s just that I sometimes worry that our penchant for the humongous too often blinds us to the challenges of sustaining the exceptional. It’s one thing to hit a home run every now and then. It’s impossible to do so every time you step up to the plate. Just remember that as in his day Babe Ruth was setting the record for home runs, he was also setting a record for striking out.
These thoughts cross my mind every time I try to come up with the next “big thing” for ministry. While every church understands how good it feels to accomplish something that the church may never have done before, its best witness to the cause of Christ usually comes about through the quieter, steadier, ongoing acts of worship and service that slowly but surely advance God’s Kingdom purposes. Indeed, the greatest impact any congregation, big or small, can make for the Gospel most often happens through their consistent obedience to the Spirit’s leading. And if enough of us show such obedience together, think of the difference we could then make for Christ in our world. It would be, dare I say it, spectacular.
I like to think of it in terms of a drippy faucet, which every homeowner abhors. Usually the drip comes from some small, minor source, which we put off addressing until we think we’ll have more time to give to the matter. Until then, we stick a bucket underneath the drip and don’t give it another thought. But what inevitably happens? After a while, those drips accumulate into a bucketful of water, and we realize that what we assumed wasn’t that big of a deal suddenly became more of one than we initially imagined.
You may think that what you bring to the work of Mountain Brook Baptist Church really isn’t that big of a deal. But when combined with the faithful work of others in our congregation, it becomes just that. So, let us not minimize the contributions of anyone. Every drop counts. Every act matters. Slowly but surely our collective efforts will overflow with grace and generosity and God will be pleased that we have shown our love for Him in such a truly spectacular way.
“Who despises the day of small things?” (Zechariah 4:10a).