I have noticed a certain resentment for the common place or the ordinary. We tend to mark it as mundane or merely normal (as if being normal were wrong). People want to stand out and have exceptional experiences. We want to see the best concerts, we want the table with the best view, we want a coach who will take us to the championship! Who cares if you win 10 games a season, if you don’t come home with the title, what does it matter?
I mention that because we tend to bring those expectations to church with us. We want to have the most beautiful worship hour, the finest preacher (sorry to disappoint on that front!), the most in attendance, the biggest events! We believe this marks us as exceptional. After all, “there’s no trophy for second place” (never mind that there usually is). Given those expectations, we tend to pass over the everyday matters.
We may say to ourselves, “We do Agape every week.” We may think, “It’s just cutting the grass, what does it matter?” We may wonder, “It’s just another small offering, what will it do?” Where’s the mountaintop experience? Where’s the big win?
I say the small things are the big wins. You may not think much of it because you do it all the time, but the Agape Ministry is a big deal. You pay good money to give groceries out every week for free! That’s a win, even if it happens every week. I listen to the lawn mowers just about every week and I know that must be another thing on a to-do list, but the fact that our people do it every week is a win and it matters. Getting together at the church for nothing more than a meal and some fun is a win. Kids collecting pocket change for a hurting family is a big win. Baptizing a young man is a big win!
They may not seem like much to some others. You don’t get trophies or titles for consistently doing good. But I’m convinced that’s how the Kingdom of God is built: one ordinary, mundane win at a time.