One of the blessings of pastoring a multi-generational church is serving alongside those whose lives, although imperfectly, tell of lifelong faithfulness. I think of the elder who has quietly served the church in season and out, the widow who prays for her church family daily, the grandmother who worships with three generations of her family every Sunday morning, the Sunday School teacher who diligently prepares and patiently teaches our covenant children, and the deacon who arrives early and leaves late serving the church Sunday after Sunday.
Outside our church, their names are likely not known — and they would be mortified if I named them now — but inside the church their lives are quietly, but consistently, telling of the Lord’s work over a lifetime. I see their lives as great testimonies of ordinary faithfulness.
Such greatness is very different from the world’s definition of success, which is measured by wealth, power, celebrity, and influence. But that which the world calls greatness, Solomon calls folly. When the disciples argued over which one of them was the greatest, surely a low point in their discipleship, our Lord squelched their competition with a succinct, humbling response: “He who is least among you all is the one who is great” (Luke 9:46-48).
Following the world’s definition of greatness may make much of us, but does not make much of God. So confessed the last of the Old Testament prophets, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). In the kingdom of God, greatness is measured differently than the way of the world, not by applause and prominence, but humility, obedience, sacrificial service, and faithfulness.
Consider Abraham, whose faith was formed through years of trusting God’s promises; or, Joseph, who remained faithful for years before the cupbearer remembered him; or Daniel, who faithfully prayed even under threat of the lions’ den. These men, though sinful, were shaped by God’s grace through their faithfulness. Though we may desire Christian maturity immediately and become impatient with what grows slowly, the lives of these Old Testament saints remind us that we mature not in a moment but over a long course of obedience, often through “the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious” (1 Peter 3:4). Our sanctification is indeed progressive but such progress involves a lifetime.
Perhaps it is helpful to remember that we are, as Peter puts it, stewards of God’s grace (1 Peter 4:10), and as stewards, Paul says, we are to be “found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2). Not wealthy, powerful, or famous, but faithful. This faithfulness looks like gathering for worship, praying privately, speaking truthfully, working diligently, repenting quickly, loving one another, and persevering to the end.
Such faithfulness may go unnoticed, but over a lifetime it becomes something beautiful, like a patina, the rich character that develops through years of use. The spine of a well-used Bible, the worn arm of a wooden pew, the brass knob of the church door possess an aged beauty that cannot be manufactured overnight. Likewise, Christian character over time develops a beautiful godliness..
Of course, God can mature his children through extraordinary, even miraculous, moments, but he typically matures us slowly — week after week and year after year — and through ordinary means, such as sitting under the preached Word every Sunday, improving our baptism through prayerfully witnessing the baptism of our covenant children, diligently receiving and being nourished through faithful observance of the Lord’s Supper, and offering up our prayerful petitions to the Lord morning and evening.
This is how our Lord ordinarily works in us, and he is not in a hurry. He is pleased to spend a lifetime molding and making us after the likeness of Christ, working in us what pleases him, using perhaps decades of ordinary faithfulness, in which our lives develop a patina that reflects the beauty of Christ.
When our last day comes, few of us will be remembered beyond it. The most beautiful Christian lives are seldom celebrated outside the local church. But when all earthly applause has faded, there will be no greater commendation than to know that our Lord’s work in and through us is complete and to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23).
John Clayton serves as the senior minister at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Fort Smith, Arkansas.