Serving Small Now Means Serving Big in Eternity

Scriptures makes clear that serving small now allows us to serve greatly in Eternity.  Being faithful in the little things here leads to being entrusted with true impact there (Luke 16:10-11, Mark 10:35-45, Matthew 25:20-23).

There is certainly nothing wrong with serving big now. We recently celebrated the life of Billy Graham, who fell asleep in Christ on Feb 21, 2018.  There is no doubt that he served with huge impact in this life.  But we don’t need to be a Billy Graham to serve with huge impact in Eternity; we only need to be faithful.  God doesn’t assess our significance for, or role in, his future eternal kingdom based on the size of our vision or even our success now.  That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t plan for success or execute for success.  But in God’s eyes our faithfulness, our servant heart, is the litmus test of significance. 

Intentionally serving small is as important to God as serving big.  Many know the story of Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Pete Fleming, and Roger Youderian, because they were martyred trying to reach the Huaorani people of Ecuador.  Their intent was to eventually translate the Bible into the Huaorani language.  Translating the Bible into a new language is typically a twenty-five-year project – a huge investment of time, a life’s work.  Most people don’t know that the Huaorani were (and still are) a people group of only 2,500 people.  These men planned to spend twenty-five years trying to bring the scripture a group of 2,500.  And Nate’s wife, Rachel, went on to actually do it. 

There are Wycliffe Bible Translators working to reach even smaller groups today, such as the Pouye in Papua New Guinea (about 1,000 people); and they are willing to spend their lifetime doing it.  While these efforts will never get the attention of the Christian world at large, they are deeply reflective of God’s heart for every human being.  When you help the hundred, or the ten, or the one, in your community (or on the far side of the globe) you reflect the same heart of God.  And it is by reflecting God’s heart in the world, no matter how big or small, that we will eventually be entrusted with a role of true impact in Eternity.  Such trust means an eternal life that really counts, an eternal life that is more than simply sharing in the everlasting bliss of the fraternity of believers.