Small Church. Big Task.

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31But eagerly desire the greater gifts.
1 Coritnthians 12:27-30

ReConstruct has had over 12,000 people volunteer from churches all across the U.S. Of all those church groups, there’s one story I never get tired of telling. It was the year 2000 and a small church group from Hardin, KY came to ReConstruct for its first mission trip. This church had an average Sunday attendance of 40 people. Their bi-vocational pastor told me they didn’t want to get into anything real big as far as home repair. They just wanted to come and paint a house and that’s it. “No problem.” God had other plans though. They were serving a homeowner in East Nashville when, on the last day, a woman came walking through the back yard. She asked if anyone had a cigarette. They didn’t, of coarse. The woman started to leave until one of the older ladies from the church stopped her and they began to talk. Come to find out the woman was in her early 40’s, a prostitute and a drug addict. She lived in the projects with a 70 year old man. She expressed that she wanted to “get out.” Later that day, the group was telling me this story and asked if there was a place we could refer her to. I had no ideas. The next day, we were wrapping up with the group and they asked for directions to a particular street. I gave directions and asked, “Why are you going over there.” The leader replied, “Well. We made a few calls back home last night and set up a place for her to live, a drug counseling program, and a temporary job for the lady and we’re going to offer her the option to go home with us.” Needless to say, my jaw dropped. This story ends with her going home with them, she accepts Christ as her Savior, cleans up her life, and stays gainfully employed. Just when we think we have it all figured out, we find that God has such a grand plan for our lives. For this group, we all thought it was to paint someone’s house.

Think about this. How many spiritual gifts were used to bring this one person to know Christ? The gifts didn’t come from just one person. Every Christian has a spiritual gift that is to be used for the Kingdom. Also. God used this small church with 40 members and limited resources for this one person. I’m a member of a large church. Some might even call it a Mega. I don’t. This doesn’t mean we’re better. It means that we have opportunities to do more with the people and resources He’s blessed us with. “To whom much is given, much is required.”