The Big Deal About Little Things

By Jamey Hinds

“The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened” (Matthew 13:33).

Everyone doesn’t have the same function in the body of Christ, therefore there should never be a sense of competition among brethren (Romans 14:10–12; Galatians 5:13–15). Whatever varying abilities God has blessed each of us with, He has done so to His name’s honor and glory (Ephesians 3:7–8; 1 Corinthians 15:10). So, there really should be a balance in our understanding and appreciation for the gifts we have been given by God—in other words, whatever it is that we’re able to do to benefit the body of Christ (i.e., the local community of believers) we should zealously do and employ those various abilities to point to God (Matthew 5:16; 1 Peter 2:9; 4:10–11).

Consider the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14–30). Three men are offered their master’s property to do business while he’s away on a journey. “To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability” (v. 15). When the master comes back to assess what’s been done with his property, the first two men report what they’ve done: they’ve each doubled what they were given oversight of. The master doesn’t congratulate the five talent man more than the two talent man: their commendation from their master is exactly the same. The last man was wicked and lazy and didn’t do anything for fear of his master (vv. 24–25). I’ll suggest this: if the one talent man had done the same as his cronies, he would have received exactly the same commendation. So, it’s not about what we do or don’t have—since everything we have comes from God—it’s about what we do with what we’ve been given.

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body (1 Corinthians 12:14–20).

Paul’s admonition is that we “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight” (Romans 12:16). If we devote ourselves to good works (Titus 3:8, 14), then God will use us to the fullest extent of the abilities He’s given us. Is there any work in the kingdom that is insignificant, that is too small to be rewarded by our heavenly Father? “Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. . . . For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:4, 7–8).

“But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:15–16).

We need to appreciate and love one another for our differences: which, again, are because of God’s wonderful gifts offered to us in love (see 1 John 4:19–21). “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:4–7).

“Strive to excel in building up the church” (1 Corinthians 14:12). There are no inferior gifts given by God the Father to His children. We have what we have, we are what we are, because of Him: “God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body” (1 Corinthians 12:18–20).