Last November, Frank Reich was back in the news.* He's the guy who led the Buffalo Bills to the greatest comeback in NFL history. Talking to news reporters, he mentioned the song "In Christ Alone" which I had written and credited the lyrics as inspiration for the comeback. At the Dove Awards the following year, I got to meet him. Previously, when I saw Frank on the field on the TV screen, I thought he seemed "smallish." When I stood next to him on that occasion, I felt like a kid in Jr. High. He was actually not smallish at all. He just appeared that way on the screen next to linebackers. Some people are that way. The closer you get to them the bigger they are.
It's disappointing to get closer to some people. They seem larger than life--that is, until you meet them and they get smaller in your eyes. I'm not talking about physical stature now. But because of their large view of themselves, and how they treat those they consider to be "little people," they actually become smaller.
How beautiful it is when you get close to others and find them getting bigger in your eyes. You see how they stay flexible when someone disrespects them. You see the kindness they give to the tech team or the audio engineer. Or, how they take time with those the world might view as "little people."
Recently, we had a guest speaker at our church that has traveled the world. His books are translated into eight languages and have sold multiple thousands. When the meeting was over, instead of hiding in the green room, he was one of the last ones to leave the building, spending time with one teary-eyed Mom who had questions. I saw compassion. I saw humility.
Later, I commended him on his patience with yet one more who asked questions he had already answered in his lecture. His response? "Ministry off-stage is just as important as on stage." He then asked me to continue to pray for him. He grew bigger in my eyes.
I've heard and seen this in different ways. I was in a session with Terry Virgo who has preached at meetings of 10,000 plus and impacted 100's of churches around the world. He founded the New Frontiers family of churches which has grown to over 1500 churches in 70 countries. When asked to give an essential quality of a lead elder (pastor), without hesitation he replied, "vulnerability." I would have expected him to say vision, calling, or passion. But vulnerability? He went on to say how vulnerability is essential in order to convey to others how essential their gifts are, how important a team is. If someone thinks themselves self-sufficient, they are disqualified. It's the one who is self-aware enough to know their inadequacy that is actually qualified to lead. Wow.
There's a scene in "Prince Caspian" when Lucy sees Aslan after quite a long time. She observes how he has gotten bigger.
“That is because you are older, little one,” answered he.
“Not because you are?”
“I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.”
C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia The Chronicles of Narnia (Harper Collins, 1994)
Maybe this is what happens when we grow up. We become more aware of our smallness--not our greatness. God gets bigger and we realize as Francis Schaeffer says, with God "there are no little people or little places."
Here are some tests to discover one's greatness:
-- How do you talk to the server at the restaurant when she gets your order wrong?
-- How do you treat the custodian in the bathroom airport?
-- How do you react when someone doesn't give you the respect you rightfully deserve?
-- How do you respond when a child interrupts you?
-- How do you converse with the phone attendant whose English is difficult to understand?
Anyone can give honor to the beautiful, the intelligent, or the powerful. But the truly great demonstrate the greater reality: "There are no little people or little places."
*https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nfl/colts/2021/11/21/colts-frank-reich-encourages-in-christ-alone-after-bills-win/8714255002/
