In many ways, it seems as if the word “big” is the leading adjective for America and life in this nation. We have the “big sky” of Montana. Everything’s bigger in Texas. One of our favorite meals is the Big Mac. We want to live in big houses, and drive big trucks. We aspire to do big things, bigger than ever before. We want our names up in the big and bright lights. Our waistlines are big, and we want our bank accounts to be big. We go on road trips to see the biggest ball of twine. Bigger is better, after all, and who are we to question such wisdom.
Growing up in a culture where you are told to either “go big or go home”, it is easy to believe that if you aren’t trying to do something large with your life, then you aren’t doing anything of consequence. Of the many unfortunate implications to such a mindset, two stick out to me this morning. The first is that we tend to lift up those who accomplish big things and place them on pedestals, somehow equating their fame and fortune as positive character traits instead of understanding who they truly are as people. Sometimes athletes take performance enhancing drugs to make it to the big show. Sometimes actors agree to immoral behavior to get a role on the big screen. Sometimes businesspeople break laws to land the big contract. Bigger isn’t necessarily better.
The other problem with this mindset is that we minimize the value of small steps. We inherently understand the importance of small steps, which we see clearly when babies take their first steps. Progress is so often based on small increments, each one made deliberately, and without the small things, there is never any hope of reaching bigger things. And so often, for someone to accomplish something truly big, many people had to first come before them with their own small steps to lay the groundwork. Without those baby steps, there can be no big steps. Yet if our eyes are always focused on the larger, we minimize the value of the smaller.
Small things make a big difference. How small, you ask? When Jesus was sending out his disciples, he said to them “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward” (Matt 10:42 NIV). Whereas American culture says “go big or go home”, Jesus says that even a cup of cold water merits a reward.
There can only ever be one biggest ball of twine. However, nearly everyone can offer a cool drink, a word of encouragement, or a safe place to rest for a moment. Lives have been forever transformed because someone took the time to perform one simple act of kindness – something that seemed so small at the time but that ultimately had big implications. Few people will do something truly big, but nearly anyone can do something small, and if we are willing to do that, we may find that we have made an eternal difference.
Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron