Doing the little things well

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Recently I have observed this phenomenon: there is an inverse relationship between dreaming great visions and faithfulness in the little things. The people who have the grandest, most sweeping plans and strategies for the future are likely to be unreliable and untrustworthy in the smaller, short-term tasks and responsibilities. They talk about the great things they want to achieve for God in the years to come, but right now they tend to drop the ball in significant ways.

What is behind this? It could just be a generational thing: I am a grumpy ‘Generation X-er’ and I’m basically talking about people in Generation Y (aka the spoilt brat generation). Or it could just be the fickle visionary dreaming of youth.

All of this might be true, but it doesn’t excuse unreliability and lack of faithfulness in the small things. Jesus is clear in Matthew 25:21 that faithfulness will be rewarded: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” If you want to achieve great things for God, start by doing the little things well now. Turn up when you say you will. Follow through on your commitments. Finish the tasks set before you. Prove yourself to be reliable.

There are two mindshifts that we need to make on this point:

  1. We need to remember that ministry is about godliness, not gifts. Giftedness can deceive. It is a wonderful thing, but we should never mistake giftedness for godliness. The core skill for ministry is the sort of servant-mindedness that is willing to do the unnoticed and unattractive jobs, and work with the hard people.

  2. Jesus Christ will judge your ministry. That is both a warning and an encouragement. It is a warning because Jesus Christ will judge your ministry. In 1 Corinthians 4:4-5 Paul writes,

    My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. (NIV)

    Jesus will hold you to account for your ministry.

    But it is also an encouragement because Jesus Christ will judge your ministry. Once again, Paul insists that “I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself” (1 Cor 4:3). It is Christ alone who judges you, not your peers, colleagues or even yourself. You minister before an audience of one; you are not enslaved to the opinions of those around you. But the one you minister before can see even the motives of your heart.

There is nothing wrong with great dreams. However, what Jesus really wants, and what the church really needs, is the sort of godliness—godliness that will be commended on the last day with the words, “ Well done, good and faithful servant”.

6 thoughts on “Doing the little things well”

  1. thanks Gav
    I have been reading a very practical book by David Allen called Getting things done. it has been immeasurably helpful in taking care of the small things. His premise is that you won’t do big things if you can’t organise small things in an effective reliable system.

    yet even more fundamental is reliable character.
    its amazing how much I find younger guys struggling to be faithful in doing what they said they would do (when they said they would do it).

    do you think this ia a generational trend or a broader cultural phenonmenon?

  2. I’m a secondary school teacher and have been doing a lot of thinking about the differences between generations. 

    Generational differences are alive and well.  If you think that young men (Gen Y) are perhaps more unreliable when it comes to completing small but necessary ministry tasks, wait until our current Generation Zedders become young adults.

    Generation Z, with all their good points, will be the most self-centred generation ever seen in the history of mankind.  They are under-parented and over technologicised (I think I may have just invented that word…), and this will lead to being self-centred and perhaps unreliable. 

    I need to make sure I teach my young children, that there is more to life than self, and of course, that godliness must indeed be placed ahead of giftedness. 

    Thanks for the blog.

  3. Thanks for the post Gav.

    We must be sympathetic to the youngsters. They have the information flow of the CEO of a generation ago… we should be understanding of their different situation.

    What we see as unwillingness to commit, may be wise flexiblity in the light of an ever-changing world. Perhaps <b>we</b> need to adjust.

    Things like GTD may be great ways to empower and support younger people to become godly in their reliability. Perhaps we need to include time-management and personal organisation in our training curriculums?

  4. I know Boomers & Gen Xers like this too. This is not just a generational thing, I think it is as much about personality. The unreliable dreamers can be a pain to work with. But those of us who are detail people need them too to keep us thinking big thoughts and making bold plans.

    We need to keep challenging one another to be faithful but also valuing the strengths that these people bring.

  5. Cheers to the comments that great things start with getting the basics right. And often the basic and necessary things can be quite small in nature.

    Just as long as we dont start automatically equating “little” with “godly”. It may be that some are being faithful in the very act of chasing of big dreams.

  6. Thanks Gavin – this is an issue I’ve been thinking about a lot this week.

    My question is this – how do we do this without making it sound like we are just sticking with the status quo?

    (You know – ‘faithful’ ministry as plodding along doing what we’ve always done can appear to be an excuse for getting stuck in tradition.)

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