On Bed-Making and Faithfulness (by Naomi)

“Like all other believers, Charlotte Mason. . .and indeed C.S. Lewis thought . . . that everyday, ordinary life lived faithfully is where the glory of God is best reflected – in our homes, communities, jobs, our art, charitable enterprises, and so on.� (Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, For the Family’s Sake)

I love the above quote and especially the line “everyday, ordinary life lived faithfully.� This brings back thoughts of my posts from several weeks ago regarding the quiet life. My mom is always reminding me that no one who sets out to do great things does great things. We set out to be faithful in the sphere in which God has placed us and occasionally, in His sovereign will, He may make the little things we are doing great. My mom then reminds me that even that is not completely true…it’s not as if “if we are only faithful in little things, those little things may lead to great things.� I think the point is more that little things are the only truly great things. We think, “oh, if I am faithful in my house as a servant, perhaps God will reward me with a bigger sphere of influence.� I don’t think that’s true. I think the little spheres are the only big spheres. Otherwise, we might be tempted to look at a missionary and assume they were once faithful in little things and therefore they are now entrusted with great things, which may be true but it also may not be. Then we look at a mother and father struggling to train their children and tell them, “Continue being faithful and God will later entrust you with bigger things.� Not true. Those little things, and I would say especially when those little things happen to be lives, are big things. I think being entrusted with half a dozen lives with the responsibility of molding and shaping them and being the tool God uses to form character and godliness in them is the absolute greatest task there could ever be.

Even now, as I am at home in my father’s house, I believe that little things matter. Whether or not I make my bed in the morning reflects my worldview. (Don’t look – I got woken up suddenly today to hurry downstairs and move furniture for the painters.) Whether I speak kindly to someone or harshly shows my view of the value of people. Whether I put healthy or unhealthy food in my mouth demonstrates my understanding of our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit. What we are called to be is faithful – not loud and obnoxious. We are commanded to be witnesses – reflections of the glory of God. This most often, I believe, does not involve preaching in the normal sense of the word. Rather, it is quiet, Christian living that draws people - living that reflects who God is. It is being known in the local library, the corner store, the deli, and the grocery as the family who always has a smile and a kind “thank you�. It is being the house on the street whose front porch looks like a place you would want to sit. For us, it is being the family who doesn’t mind when the mentally handicapped man down the street comes to chat outside and interrupt our work. It’s the one who knows when his birthday is and brings a card over. (Trust me- for him, that was LOVE!)

I think our leeriness of holding this philosophy stems from our indoctrination of the need to be a “witness,� which is most often interpreted as outreach. We think that unless we are reaching out to our community, we are stalemating our influence. Perhaps in the postmodern Christian world, our idea of witnessing is drastically distorted. I don’t think witnessing is primarily standing on a street corner.

Case in point – we will have lived in our house here in Elma for 14 years next week. Next door to us is a dear widow lady whom we have grown to love. The depth and substance of her spiritual life is debatable; she goes to church and prays, but doesn’t read her Bible. What does witnessing to her look like…that is, real and genuine witnessing that would have a long-lasting eternal effect? I don’t think it’s preaching in the normal sense of the word. I believe it looks more like fixing her lawn mower, raking her leaves, bringing her fresh bread and a hot meal once or twice a week, spending a quiet evening visiting in her living room, running over at 4 a.m. when she is taken away in an ambulance, leaving our upstairs light on so she knows someone is home during the night, driving her to the doctor when she’s afraid to go alone, throwing her a birthday party when her family refuses to – all the things we have done for the past 14 years. The Bible even says this is true religion. We are seeing fruit for all these years of labor too – her countenance has visibly softened in the past 2 years or so, evidence of God’s work in her heart. Here is an example of effective, long-term witnessing and it didn’t involve any preaching.

I believe that our primary responsibility, preaching the gospel and making disciples, is most effectively done by building Christian culture - that is, by living Christianly and preaching with our lives. Helping people to “make a decision for Christ� is not necessarily making disciples. However, loving people – the same people, for years, in the difficult ways – is.

Little is much. Being faithful is our only job. I don’t want a position of great influence. I want people to love, rooms to clean, neighbors to bring food to, songs to sing, dances to dance, lawns to mow, and carpets to vacuum. In doing these things well, completely, and therefore Christianly, I am obedient in the little things. Reflecting Christ in the world (witnessing), I believe, is best done, as Susan Schaeffer Macaulay says, in the “everyday, ordinary life lived faithfully.� Go make your bed. I’m going to go make mine!