A Few Things

By Robin Caldwell

The youth pastor prayed, “Lord, deliver me from the approval of men. I don’t want to live for that; I want to live for you. I want to live for the ‘well done!’” Shivers ran up and down my spine and the Bible verse he paraphrased resonated in my brain:

“His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'” (Matthew 25:21, NKJ)

God instantly convicted me of why I’m on Earth and how many times I’ve done things for all of the wrong reasons. My service is not to please people or gratify my ego; it’s to be unto Him. The “few things” I am faithful in performing can’t be me or ye-centered; they’re to be Christ-centered—His priority not mine.

Pastor Rick Warren followed through on one thing resulting in the best-selling tome, The Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? It seemed like such a small effort to write a book, but the fruit of his obedience has been phenomenal: lives have been transformed, churches have renewed passion and people are having their daily needs met.

By the same token, Bishop Eddie Long embraced a few things and his church, New Birth Cathedral re-purposed Resurrection Day. They celebrated the risen Savior by offering services in the Georgia Dome. The church wisely partnered with local community service organizations and the Centers for Disease Control to provide much needed outreach to the surrounding community. Those in attendance and in need received food, clothing, personal care kits and healthcare screenings ranging from podiatry to HIV testing. If that weren’t enough, they were served with massages and haircuts.

In some city or rural community, an uncelebrated yet faithful saint has taken his or her meager earnings and fed the homeless or provided clothing for a child or given shelter to a battered woman. We will not see that service on TV or read about it in magazines, but we will be blessed by its fruitfulness.