The Little Things Do Matter

Ever gotten a kind note out of the blue from a good friend? Has someone ever gone out of the way to do something for you without expecting anything in return? Has your spouse ever surprised you with some thoughtful gift or act of kindness? Little things often matter. They can truly encourage, or they can destroy. It does work both ways. Over Christmas, we got a jillion cards and family updates from people. We love hearing from old friends, but this past Christmas we also received two unexpected items. First, was an envelope with a cut out newspaper article and a small note written on a little torn piece of paper. The newspaper article had quoted my husband, and the sender thought we would like a copy of it, so she cut it out and sent it to us along with a little note letting us know she had prayed for us. I do know this lady a little, but by no means do I know her well. She is more of an acquaintance which is why the gesture was so unexpected to me. Her kindness took me off guard. The second piece of mail was a regular Christmas card addressed to my husband. Inside was a sweet note from a woman thanking him for praying for her and her family during a hospital emergency back in January 2010. My husband kept looking at the card trying to recall the situation, but he could not remember anything about the woman or even the emergency. Once again the little things matter greatly! He had helped a family in need and although to him it was hardly memorable, to them it meant a great deal. 

As I was thinking about how little things can impact us, I started thinking about words and expressions. Words are little things, but they carry meaning (much to the chagrin of our postmodern world). A few years ago I used to have frequent conversations about various doctrinal subjects with a friend that was an ordained minister. One day in conversation, I used the phrase, “It’s human nature...” He immediately stopped me, and I remember him looking at me as if I had just said something outrageously heretical. In a unwavering tone with overly enunciated consonants and slightly stretched out syllables he then said, “It is not human nature; it is sinful nature.”  Of course, I meant human nature--as in that fallen nature that we all have, but he was right, human nature is the wrong term. I have never forgotten the quickness and intensity with which he corrected me. To this day when I hear someone say "human nature" in place of sinful nature little hairs go up on my neck. The error now drives me crazy! Human nature and sinful nature are two different things. After all Christ took on  human flesh, yet He was perfectly obedient in his humanity. There was not an inkling of sin in Him.  It is interesting though how little wrong uses of terms/phrases like that over time can impact thinking and theology. After a while, humanness becomes the problem, instead of sinfulness.  Richard Mouw in his book, Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport adapted a phrase from a Lutheran scholar to make it apply to his situation. Mouw’s phrase came out like this, 

"First and foremost I am a human being. But I find being a Christian to be the best way for me to be a human being. And I find being Protestant the best way for me to be a Christian. And I find being Reformed the best way for me to be Protestant. And I find being a Calvinist to be the best way of being Reformed." 

The reason I love this quote so much is that it all goes back to being what we were created to be--human beings created in the image of God to commune with God and to glorify God.