God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are – 1 Corinthians 1:28
When Christ at a symbolic moment was establishing His great society, He chose for its corner-stone neither the brilliant Paul nor the mystic John, but a shuffler, a snob, a coward – in a word, a man. And upon this rock He has built His church, and the gates of Hell have not prevailed against it. All the empires and the kingdoms have failed, because of the inherent and continual weakness, that they were founded by strong men and upon strong men. But this one thing, the historic Christian Church, was founded on a weak man, and for that reason it is indestructible. For no chain is stronger than its weakest link. – (G.K. Chesterton, Heretics)
The modern world, when it praises its little Caesars, talks of being strong and brave: but it does not seem to see the eternal paradox involved in the conjunction of these ideas. The strong cannot be brave. Only the weak can be brave; and yet again, in practice, only those who can be brave can be trusted, in time of doubt, to be strong. – (G.K. Chesterton, Heretics)
Ordinary Christianity
I now invite you to quit reading. The quotes above already say what I want much more powerfully. My last blog, titled Praying the Impossible, reached for the stars. In this blog I want to speak about ordinary Christianity.
Have you ever seen the rain? Each drop lives only a few seconds before it hits the ground and is no more. A raindrop contains a fraction of a milliliter of water. It takes an army of raindrops to fill even a small bucket and an incredible host to water a field. But a single raindrop, invisible and alone, goes unnoticed all it’s life.
This is how I feel sometimes on the race, especially these past few months. At the end of a long day in the villages, what change have I affected? The slum children go back to their homes. Wounds cleaned and dressed with band aids are dirtied again. Spiritual warfare continues. Barren lands remain parched. And tomorrow is another day full of the same, but I have nothing left to offer, after all, what can a single drop of rain accomplish?
The needs of this world are staggering. Huge numbers of children are sex-trafficked every year in many parts of Southeast Asia. Nutritious food is non-existent to the vast majority of residents who live below the poverty line. Villages wash, bathe and excrete into the same water they drink. Orphans are neglected. Parents despair and sell their child into slavery for a few meals. And governmental corruption clogs up organized efforts to help.
The world needs much more than I can give. Even one child is too much for me. Their wounds are many and they go too deep. The lands are so dry I come to the brink of despair. They need a monsoon of compassion.
What they need is God, He’s dealt with drought before.
In one situation, an entire nation, the people of Israel, were in the midst of a three year and six month drought, having turned from God to worship Baal and other gods. Meanwhile Elijah, the last faithful servant of God, is running for his life. But Elijah prayed, and in answer to Elijah’s prayers, God miraculously exposes and defeats the priests of Baal and causes rain to fall on the land (1 Kings 18:20-46). Yet Elijah despairs that He alone is left to serve God. But God speaks up and corrects Elijah, stating that in Israel are “seven thousand” who “have not not bowed to Baal.”
What Elijah couldn’t see, God saw: seven thousand who had not yet fallen into idol worship. Each of these seven thousand had made personal resolutions that Baal would not receive so much as a bent knee from them. Risking their lives, they practiced God’s law secretly, but not altogether unseen.
God sees the raindrops. Though we strain our eyes on them, He carefully notes their path. Each raindrop is precious. Their life is but a moment, yet look how they fall!! Together this great cloud of witnesses, collapsing into a glorious puddle, utterly spent, accomplish all that God imagined.
And look! What is that in the heavens? I see hope written in vivid color from one end of the earth to the other. A rainbow after the storm, light refracting off suspended water droplets hovering in the air: Ordinary Christians, leading ordinary lives, assailed every day but refusing to bow down, you are God’s chosen. The body lasts only a moment but it contains the light of God and together we make up the story of God’s undying faithfulness and goodness.
Keep at it! mechanics, welders, pastors, doctors, students, mentors, teachers, writers, artists, musicians, athletes, moms, dads, social workers, psychologists, coaches, trainers, bankers, accountants, reporters, and everyone else. God watches and rejoices in all raindrops, from small to large, strong or weak, wise or simple, old or young, educated or otherwise.
Blessings,
Zach
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are…
