No Matter Where You Serve the Lord, You Are Part of Something Really Big
Whether you serve in a growing congregation or a difficult field, God is the one who produces the results. This encouragement reframes ministry success around faithfulness, not applause or numbers. Wherever you serve, you are participating in a kingdom that spans generations, cultures, and eternity.
- God does the work; we’re invited to be part of what he is doing.
- The kingdom of God reaches across generations, cultures, and time.
- The Lord measures faithfulness, not audience size or recognition.
by David Faust
Have you heard the old story about a fly that landed on the back of an elephant? As the giant pachyderm lumbered across a wooden bridge, the fly felt the vibrations and boasted, “Look at me. I’m making this whole bridge tremble!”
When the church grows, we are like flies and God is like the elephant. He does the work and we are along for the ride. Just because we are present when something great happens, that doesn’t mean we caused it—but praise God, we get to be part of it!
Some of God’s servants work in fertile fields where dramatic growth occurs. Other hardworking brothers and sisters labor in unplowed fields where the ground is hard and unyielding. Paul and his coworker Apollos planted and watered gospel seeds, but Paul insisted it was “only God, who makes things grow” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7, New International Version).
We shouldn’t brag about church attendance and take credit for things God alone can do. But we should be encouraged because wherever we serve the Lord, we’re part of a cause so “wide and long and high and deep” (Ephesians 3:18) that it’s difficult to comprehend. What is so impressive about God’s kingdom?
It Encompasses All Generations
The song, “In Christ Alone,” has a line that says, “From life’s first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny.” Your church’s span of care covers a full century—from age 0 to age 100 and above—from tiny babies in the nursery to aging saints. What other organization on earth has such a wide reach? Fans of all ages gather at sports events, but where else but at church do so many different generations serve together week after week, year after year?
Peter told his first-century listeners that God’s promises are “for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:38-39). You and I are part of the “far off” crowd! Large or small, your congregation not only impacts those who are alive now, but also those who are “far off,” including our great-great-grandchildren and generations beyond.
It Is Relevant in All Cultures
The good news we preach isn’t limited to any nation, ethnic group, or subset of society. It’s for everyone.
If your church’s attendance numbers seem unimpressive, don’t be discouraged. You belong to “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9).
And don’t underestimate what one individual Christian or a small congregation can do. Who can measure the impact of a generous believer who prays for missionaries and sends them financial support? Or a small rural church that gives 20 percent of its offerings to support ministries overseas? Or an urban congregation where people from different ethnic groups worship together in unity?
By serving Christ, we participate in God’s promise to Abraham that all people on earth will be blessed through his covenant family (Genesis 12:3). Wherever we go, Christ is with us as we preach the gospel, baptize new disciples, and teach “all nations” (Matthew 28:18-20).
It Transcends All Time Periods
In the past, God preserved his covenant people and revealed his character and law. The prophets pointed toward the coming Messiah who would bring deliverance.
In the present, God’s plan of redemption brings hope to all who respond to him in faith.
In the future, God’s goal of reconciliation will reach completion when sin, suffering, and death are fully overcome. This part of redemption is still ahead, “as we wait eagerly for . . . the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23). Wherever you participate in God’s redemption story, your ministry impacts eternity.
Its Ultimate Success Can Be Measured Only by the Lord Himself
In Jesus’ parable of the talents, the five-talent servant and the two-talent servant received the same words of commendation: “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21, 23). The one-talent servant wasn’t rebuked for having less than the others; the problem was, he refused to use what he was given and make the most of it.
Where was Paul more faithful—at the Areopagus in Athens where he told a crowd of influential philosophers about the unknown God, or when he sat alone in a prison cell, writing letters to encourage his friends? Where was Peter more faithful—when he preached to thousands on the Day of Pentecost, or when he nervously crossed a cultural barrier by visiting the home of Cornelius? Where was Philip more faithful—when he led crowds to believe and be baptized in Samaria, or when he led one Ethiopian to Christ in the desert?
These are false choices. God calls us to be faithful wherever we are. No matter how big or small the audience. No matter how impressive or unimpressive the surroundings. No matter how loud or silent the applause. No matter how much or how little recognition we receive.
On one of the most important days in history, the day of Jesus’ resurrection, the Master chose to spend several hours with two disciples on the road to Emmaus. He walked with them, explained the Scriptures to them, and ate dinner with them. On that incredibly important day, the risen Lord considered it a worthwhile investment to spend time with two individuals who needed him.
If only we could learn to view our ministries from the Lord’s perspective! Jesus noticed the generosity of an unnamed widow and said she “put more into the treasury than all the others” (Mark 12:43). When another faithful follower anointed Jesus with expensive perfume, he recognized her contribution by saying, “She did what she could” (Mark 14:8).
At the end of your life, don’t you hope the Lord will say the same thing about you?
Author: David Faust
David Faust serves as contributing editor of Christian Standard and senior associate minister with East 91st Street Christian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is the author of Not Too Old: Turning Your Later Years into Greater Years.
