In Zechariah 4:10 those who have despised the קְטַנֹּות – the “small things” – have missed the mark. The “seven eyes” of Jehovah roam the earth [searching for] what is seemingly insignificant – both people and industry – and sees them not as contemptible, but rather regards them with favour. Just as they are. Their future is secure in His hands. They do not need to become to be. He sees. He knows.
The small things.
Jesus, in Luke 16:10, calls us to be faithful in the ἐλάχιστος – the most insignificant and trivial – the “small things” – with the understanding of faithfulness being that of caring for something because you cherish or treasure it, rather than out of raw obligation or dutiful service.
The small things.
Don’t despise the small, Zechairah says to us. The words of Jesus could – and dare I say, should – be rendered – “stay faithful with the little and you will stay faithful with much.”
The small things.
You never “graduate” out of the simplicity of integrity; you carry the same careful attention to detail from the smallest tasks into the largest responsibilities because you have learned to treasure them as core to who you are and who you are becoming. The end is never the dictator of the means. The Greek word used for faithful (πιστός – pistos) implies reliability and trustworthiness that doesn’t change its nature based on the size or import of what is being entrusted. “Little things” remain the very fabric of a faithful life.
Instead of a linear progression where the “little things” are left behind as we advance into becoming “more”, the small things remain treasured at our core, consistently rippling out through to the farthest reaches of the impact and influence that we may be privileged to experience. “Much” is simply “little” amplified and faithfulness is actually a character trait not a performance outcome or metric.
It is significant to note here however that truly embracing this perspective, results in things actually never remaining, or even eventually ever being, about “smaller” or “bigger.” Rather it transforms us into those who are learning – over and over again – that care and attention to people – individuals – is actually at the centre of it all. Just as we do not leave behind “little things,” we are not to leave in our dust “little people”. There are no “things” that are simply stepping stones, as it always ends up being people that we’ve stepped on in our quest for advancement, promotion, recognition, stuff, influence and power. Perhaps our understanding of “legacy” should not be measured by “what,” “how much,” or “how seen.” but by how we’ve treated – people. One. By. One.
Therefore, faith and faithfulness are not to be seen as “levels” of spirituality to be aspired to as if we are advancing up some ladder of “God’s favour” – nor is “God’s favour” evidenced simply through the outward trappings of “much – or more” whether that be stuff, edifices, influence or the accolades of the crowd and the number of thumbs up emoji’s we’ve received.
May I quote GK Chesterton here?
“The [true] mystic is not a [person] who reverences large things so much as a [person] who reverences small ones. Little things please great minds.”
The small is not a launch pad into something greater, a stepping stone to something “better”, nor a means to another end. They are to be treasured because it is the small things that actually sustain and hold us through life and faith. They ground us. They keep us real. Attention to this detail keeps us leaning into consistent and effective accountability. Humility. Meekness.
Conversely, and described negatively, “the small things are small until they’re not.” Not attending to flaws in character, not paying heed to tiny fissures in our conscience or ignoring the niggles of “wrongness” in our behavior which allow us to adopt a laissez faire and “it doesn’t really matter” attitude, will end us up in a world of hurt. Eventually. Not just for ourselves, but most often for those around us. Perhaps this sheds a new light on the ancient practices of the examination of conscience (the Examen) and confession (Spiritual Direction) as designed to cultivate self-awareness, humility, and ongoing conversion rather than that of just rote religious exercise and being a healing and calibrating of the soul more than anything judicial and punitive. We’d do well to heed these ancient paths again.
The small things. Matter.
“Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of “the brightest and the best” among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow pretensions of the “somebodies”?
That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have – right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start – comes from God by way of Jesus Chirst. That’s why we have the saying,
“If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.”
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 MSG
The small things. Matter. Always.
Step by step.