Despise Not Small Beginnings

*Note: When the Editor render the word 'Church' as shown here he is referring to our man made, Business entity Corporate Institutional 'Church.' When we see the word church rendered in all lower case lettering he are referring to Christ's Biblical house church design, which He died for and continues to build.

By: John Vuckovich Jr.
Contributions by A. A. Korzeniewski

For who hath despised the day of small things? ~ Zechariah 4:10

Upfront let us clue you in on the hook for this post. Using Scripture we hope to adjust and align our perception so as to see through the eyes of God on a particular matter.

What do the following have in common?

The jawbone of an ass

Gideon’s 300-man army

12 tribes

12 disciples

Small nation (Deut. 7:7)

Moses’ rod

A smooth stone

A widow’s mite

Mustard Seed

5 loafs 2 fishes

A lad

Sparrow falling to the ground

From 1 Kings: A little water (17:10) A little oil (17:12) A handful of meal (17:12) A little cake (17:13)

A cloud the size of a hand (18:44)

Hairs on your head numbered

8 in the ark

A little slave girl

The common denominator these share are – they are all small things.

We live in day and age that says, “Bigger is better.” Consider these trends: bigger government, bigger business and bigger returns. This perception and mindset has been carried over into today’s business ‘Church.’ “Pastor” conferences reward their fellow comrades with rewards for big numbers of salvations, baptisms, ‘Church’ growth, bus ministries, and Sunday school programs. If Jesus was actually a part of these manmade schemes, He would not fit in only having twelve disciples with one dropping out. What hireling (modern day paid-to-minister pastor) wants to say, “Hey look at me, I pastor a small church!” Right away those of the religious establishment and their congregants would judge in their heart thoughts such as:

“His preaching must be weak and uninteresting.”

“He must be in sin.”

“Maybe God has written Ichabod over the church doors.” 

“He needs more programs.”

Small in the modern mind is equated with insignificant, unimportant, belittled, waste of time, failure, loss of power and loss of blessing. Why would God use anything small? Wouldn’t such an association be questionable or possibly slanderous for His Majestic Mighty nature? Yet through the Scriptures we see God moving, working, and using small things.

“By little and little I will drive them out from before thee...” ~ Exodus 23:30.

“And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few.” ~ 1 Samuel 14:6.

So why does God use the unwanted, small, weak, rejected, little pushed aside things of this world? The answer is found in 1 Corinthians 1:26-29: “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: [27] But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; [28] And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: [29] That no flesh should glory in his presence.”

God is a loving, sharing, and giving God. God even shared His only begotten Son. He will impart blessing and miracles. However, one thing God will not share with His children is His glory. “I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another...” ~ Isaiah 42:8.

Little things make God BIG!

Today’s “Christianity” has adopted a worldly business approach and philosophy to doing ‘Church,’ while rejecting a Biblical one. In “Christian” circles, Mega ‘Churches’ are held in high esteem, awe, and envy. This bigness is perceived as success. Such big named “pastors” attain the status of being the go to person for counsel, writing books, and being qualified as a ‘Church’ expert. Ever read a book entitled, “How to Build Small Churches?” No one would buy such a thing unless they want to fail...right? Yet that is exactly the model we see Paul planting throughout the Epistles.

So how does this post fit into our lives? Perhaps God has or is leading us out of today’s corporate business driven ‘Church’ System. If we find ourselves at a crossroads with nowhere to go, or not knowing what to do, how about opening our homes for a church to start? We reason, “I couldn’t do that! Jesus promised to, “build MY [His] church.” That takes all the pressure off. The church is His and the building is His.” Really?

Consider the backdrop to the book of Philippians: “And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days. [13] And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont {known} to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. [14] And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things witch were spoken of Paul. [15] And she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.” ~ Acts 16:12-15.

The church of Philippi, which Paul started with this precious woman and her household, went on to be a church that Paul wrote an epistle to. The church in this house couldn’t have been too bad. I don’t recall any rebukes like that to the Corinthian church. It was the church in a house meeting, not a Cathedral. It was small in size. This type of church planting (small pockets of believers meeting in houses) in Acts caused the lost to declare, “These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also.” Wow! When was a Mega church, or any decent sized ‘Church’ accused of that in our lifetime? Churches in houses in the first century spread and grew like a wild fire. They helped with the collapse of the Roman Empire.

Some would say, “Small is boring.” I've got news for you; everything starts out small. Look at seeds for example. A mustard seed, the smallest of seeds can become a great big piece of vegetation. Dismiss the naysayers who say it can’t be done. Once we realize that corporate ‘Churches’ are not what God had in mind for His model, we need to leave modern day Babylonian ‘Church,’ and her children altogether.

Perhaps we can unite with like-minded believers of an established 'Church,' adopt the Bible's guidelines and meet in a house. There's no tithe necessary, no payroll and no professionals. But what if there isn't a consensus of friends willing to step away from Institutionalism? What if we can't find a group that meets in homes within an hour drive? Maybe God is showing us that we need to start a church in our own home. Is it going to be an easy task to start our own group? No, but the blessing will be far greater than if we had continued in what we know to be wrong, provided we are witnessing, we challenge people in false religions to step away from what is comfortable for them (their religion and traditions) and turn to Christ. Don't let the idea of house church frighten you. Christ designed them to be small and intimate. This is the way we are supposed to meet. Besides, He is the One Who builds His church, not us.

We encourage all believers to replace religion for relationship, inviting them to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We need to practice what we preach to the lost. We need to step away from false religious practices (government registered businesses disguised as “churches”), and be obedient to Jesus’ heart concerning Biblical church. When we come out from the corporate 'Church' and seek to follow our Saviour, our faith will be tried and tested. Our comfort zone will be pushed. But isn’t our Groom, Who is hastening His coming for us worth it? Imagine if we continued on in a marriage never caring what our spouse’s needs, desires, preferences, or wishes were. How painful is that relationship going to be? But, isn't that how we are towards Christ? Our desires should be one with our Groom.

Jesus’ heart desires for His church should be our own. Should we resign ourselves to the mentality of, “Christ I know you want us separate from the corporate 'Church' but that’s not in my comfort zone. I don’t have a home fellowship to attend. I think I would rather stay in institutional ‘Church’ practicing Old Covenant tithing where the ‘Church’ building replaces the Temple, and my high priest (the pastor) becomes my voice of reason. I'd rather do all this instead of stepping out in New Covenant living.”

I understand there is a certain socially acceptable religious circles you don’t want to abandon. But, consider Jesus. What a painful relationship for Him to have to endure with us. He gave His life so we could have a New Covenant with God. Yet we won't sacrifice our social club to obey His heart concerning organic authentic church. Consider this scenario: What if all across America every ‘Church’ building, property, and asset is liquidated? Now imagine placing all this untold wealth in a trust fund towards world missions to where we wouldn’t be able to spend these resources over the span of our lifetimes (or our children’s lifetimes) until the Lord comes? We could actually reach the whole world!

Seeing that doing church BIG ends in small results, we constantly hear the plea for more money to get missionaries in the field. God has supplied the money to His people. We decide to build buildings and purchase properties instead, thus misappropriating God’s resources. Adopting a Pauline pattern of many churches in homes would allow God’s saints to flood missions with all the money needed. The small could accomplish some BIG results.

It takes faith to step away from what we are accustomed to and break out of our comfort zones. When we focus on results (big vs. small) it changes us, our motives, and our direction. This is evident by today’s model of Institutional ‘Church.’ We no longer allow Jesus to build His church using His methods and way prescribed in the books of the New Testament. Instead we replace it with a business approach all the while claiming to be doing it for Him even though it’s not from Him.

Will we let God use the small things like us and our home so no flesh can glory in His presence? Will we join the ranks of the greatest church planter in history the Apostle Paul – in starting a church plant in our home for our neighborhoods and communities? Super-sized ‘Church’ doesn’t equal power and blessing. If we want to be a success in this endeavor, simply think small, obey, and let Jesus build His church His way.

I leave you with this encouraging stanza and chorus in the hymn “Little Is Much.”

Does the place you’re called to labor

Seem too small and little known?

It is great if God is in it,

And He’ll not forget His own.

Chorus:

Little is much when God is in it!

Labor not for wealth or fame.

There’s a crown—and you can win it,

If you go in Jesus’ Name.

Song by Kittie L. Suffield