Teachings of Jesus (Part 29) Small Things By Ben Fronczek

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Teachings of Jesus (Part 29) Small Things

By Ben Fronczek

Many Years ago I heard a lesson on radio, it may have been a lesson by Charles Swindoll, that has stuck with me to this day. He talked about how in order to grow as a Christian many times that walk can like being in a boot camp, that is a spiritual boot camp.

I liked that illustration because most of us have heard what a military boot camp is like. For example, if you become a Marine, or join the army and go to their boot camp, one of the first things they do is strip you of your old identity and give you a new one. You are no longer a civilian. You become soldier or a Marine. They give you a new hair style, they give you new clothes and shoes to wear. They put you in a new place to live, with a group of other soldiers that you will train with and learn to depend on. And you learn to obey orders.

But they won’t give you a helicopter, or a tank, or cannon to use right away, rather they start you off by training you how to make your bed the army way, and how to keep your gear in proper order, and how to march. They also exercise you so that you become stronger and more fit both physically and mentally.

Then the more you learn and develop as a soldier the more responsibility they give you. Eventually, in many ways you are no longer the same person you were before you went through boot camp. You are stronger, more confident, trained as a soldier, whatever that entails, and you become part of a new and efficient team.

Likewise, we go through a similar metamorphosis. You are not who you were before you met Christ; we also have a new identity as a Christian. And just because we think we know a lot, God may not give us certain jobs to do or responsibilities until He prepares us by training us to do smaller or less important things first. The same could be said of congregation as well. I don’t believe that God will make demands of a body of Christians until He has put them through a certain amount of experiences that should prepare them to do what they are meant to do.

We see this throughout scripture. For example, God did not put young Joseph in charge of Egypt right out of his father’s care; he had to go through a kind of boot camp. He first learned how to be a good steward by learning as a slave to manage Potiphar’s household. Joseph did such a good job and was blessed by God Potiphar put his slave Joseph in charge of his entire household. Genesis 39:6 says, “ So Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned. With Joseph there, he didn’t worry about a thing—except what kind of food to eat!”

Joseph still wasn’t ready for what lay ahead, but then he learned more management skills in Pharaoh’s prison. In Genesis 39:22-23 it says, ”Before long, the warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison. 23 The warden had no more worries, because Joseph took care of everything.”

Those hard days were sort of his boot camp experience or training ground. And I’m sure if he had refused to act in a responsible manner and not do the simple, less important thing from the beginning, I don’t think God would have exalted him to the position he eventually attained in Egypt. Joseph was likewise given a new name and identity. He was so different that his own brothers did not even know who he was when they final met him there in Egypt. And it all started with him serving well and being attentive to the those small and menial tasks as a house slave in Potiphar’s household.

I believe the same is true of Moses. Even though at 40 he was well educated in the ways of Egypt and even though he had gone on successful military campaigns, God knew that he was not yet ready to lead His people out of Egypt. Moses had to spend 40 more years training in the wilderness as a shepherd before he could ever lead God’s people there.

I also believe the same can be said of us. All too often we jump into something and think that we should prosper or be hitting home runs right away. But as many of us have come to realize, you need to learn to take those baby step well before you’ll ever run. We can’t or shouldn’t under-estimate the value of doing less important, simple things well… before we move on to greater things. No small task comes without its merits.

In Luke 16:10-16:16 Our Lord once said something very profound and something we all need to learn, He said, “He who is faithful in the very little things will be faithful also in much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?” (Luke 16:10-12)

Again here we see Jesus raising the bar. Yes, we should not under-estimate the value of doing simple or mundane things well. They may be the very things that are preparing us in some way for greater responsibilities and things later. Here Jesus raises the bar by saying, “So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?”

I believe that the Lord is watching us and looking at how we handle things of this world, even how responsible we are with the simplest, most mundane things He has given us.

How good are you at taking care of things that you own? Are they in shambles and are they neglected or neat and well taken care of? Do you pick up little messes around, or do you leave them for someone else to pick up. When you go to the grocery store and decide you don’t want something in your cart do you take it out of your cart and just put it someplace on a shelf on the opposite side of the store where you got it from, leaving it for someone else to put it away, or do you put it back where you got it from? When you empty your grocery cart do you put it away, or do you just leave it in another parking spot. See where I am going with this? There are so many things that may seem mundane or below us but someone has to do them. Someone has to be responsible. Why not us as Christians?

In this context He mentions how one handles money.
Even today banks and other lending institutions follow the same philosophy. If you can’t handle what little you have, and you have bad credit, they are not going to give you a big loan for a car or a house. First you have to prove you are responsible with what little you have before they will give you a loan.

But Jesus raises the bar saying that we will not be given “true riches” which I believe are the greater spiritual opportunities and works of God unless we are responsible enough to handle what we already have… well.

As I already mentions, I don’t believe that God would have given Joseph or Moses the responsibility of saving His people if they were goof-offs, if they weren’t first willing to do lesser of more mundane things they had to do beforehand.

I personally believe that God is watching how we are taking care of our homes, our car, our stuff which He has blessed us with, not to mention how we take care of our family and loved ones. He sees how well we do the mundane things not only at home, but also at work.

In Ecclesiastes 9:10 the wisest man who ever lived wrote, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might,”
In Colossians 3:23 the Apostle Paul wrote, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,”

I think this is the key…getting in our mind what we do we do as if working for our Lord.
Jumping ahead to Luke 19 Jesus tells the parable of the talents. Because two of the King’s servants were responsible with the little bit of money they were given, we learn that one was put in charge of five cities and the other was put in charge of ten cities. But the one who fluffed off and did not do anything with the small portion that his master entrusted him with, was not blessed in the end (Luke 19:11-26) (click on verse to read)

I hope by now that you see what the Lord is teaching here.
It doesn’t matter if you are just washing dishes, and cleaning up around your house, or working on an assembly line in a factory, God is with us and watching how we handle those tasks before He gives us more.

Years ago I read a book called The Practice of the Presence of God, written by Brother Lawrence. It made mention of a very humble yet wise monk who many sought an audience with because of his wisdom. His duty was to wash others dirty dishes in the monastery where he resided.
What caught everyone’s attention was not just the fact that he did a good job, rather everyone noted his delightfully positive attitude as he did that dirty, mundane job. Even a job that everyone disliked and frowned upon, he seemed cheerful. Why? Because he was wise enough to know that our Lord is present no matter what we are doing, so he learned to enjoy the Lord’s company even there besides the kitchen sink, and hence did the best job that he could possibly do, and enjoyed the Lord’s presence there with him.

I really believe that this is a powerful message on many fronts for each of us. If you take this kind of thinking to heart I don’t think we will complain as much, and I think we will find ourselves taking care of things and doing a better job even doing those less mundane thing in our life; first seeking to make God proud of us, then others.

Now you may or may not advance beyond that mundane job you have today, but our Master is watching and He has great plans for your future in His home, in His kingdom based on how well you serve and take care of things here on earth. So I say, don’t get discouraged, but rather serve with all your might and remember He is with you… and I say, ‘make Him proud.’