My association is a small association in comparison to some others. The church where my official membership resides is small compared to some others. Frankly I'm short compared to a lot of people, especially basketball players in high school, college, and the pros. In all these cases I can also point out that we are large when we compare ourselves to some others.
Yet when we make our own comparisons, more often than not it is to the larger guy that we look. We want to be like him, and we always come out on the short end of the deal. We are seeking ways to make ourselves look good when standing beside those we deem larger, bigger, or greater. If we want to see progress or growth or improvement in ourselves, we look to those we already deem ahead of where we are and closer to where we want to be. We don't look at those we sense are already behind us or smaller than us.
A wise man once said (whom I have no idea!) that small is an attitude and not a physical measurement. Such attitudes can make us feel inferior or superior, oppressed or lordly. Such attitudes can lead to us looking up to people or looking down on people. As a friend of mine once said many years ago, "I have an inferiority complex. Everyone is inferior to me!"
Small like beauty can be in the eye of the beholder. The attitude we attach to it will determine our efforts and our results in life in general and for the Kingdom of God in particular. This is just as true for churches and associations as it is for individuals. If you see yourself as small, then you will act that way. If you see yourself as large, great, or powerful, then you will act that way.
For Kingdom work the bottom line is not our size but the size of the God we worship. We will always be small in comparison to him. We will always be powerless in comparison to him. We will always be failures in comparison to him.
However, in his eyes we are of ultimate worth. In his eyes we have been given all things, even heaven itself. In his eyes we are strong enough to conquer even the gates of hell. There is nothing small about any of that!
Satan and his temptation for us to act weak will always look big when we take our eyes off God. (I know who said that: my wife!) As long as we churches and associations keep our eyes on the greatness of our God and the greatness he wants to raise up within us, then it is the world of evil that will begin to diminish in size. As we begin to view our greatness through the eyes of God, then our resources will become greater and the obstacles smaller.
God does not see small churches or small associations. He sees congregations and associations who see themselves as small. He is patient. He continues to work with us. He is daily trying to get us to open our eyes and to see the greatness he has waiting for us, the greatness we can only find in him. So often the great things God is wanting us to do as his Church are not done simply because we refuse to realize he has already made us big enough to do them.
