Over the past couple of weeks, I had a chance to do some discipleship with a small group of our leaders at LifeSpring. We read a discipleship lesson together, then gathered over zoom on a weeknight evening to discuss what we’ve learned. It was a great time of sharing and learning together, along with hearing testimonies about serving at LifeSpring both presently and in the past.
Near the end of one session, Auntie Jessie shared an insight that stuck with me. She mentioned that all of us in the church are like puzzle pieces. While a single puzzle piece may have its small, individual role, when all of the pieces are put together, it forms something bigger.
This image of a puzzle got me thinking about the topic of unity in the Bible. Unity is a powerful theme in scripture, and we’re reminded of it in verses like Philippians 2:1-2.
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.
Paul was encouraging the church in Philippi to remain united with Christ and with one another. The church was to be like-minded, sharing in the same love, spirit, and mind. It is almost as if they were to function like one unit, sharing the same purpose and goal.
Dr. Siang Yang once shared an idea that I often reflect on: we aren’t called to do great things for God, but to simply do things for a great God. During our discipleship meetings, I saw this in action. Serving at LifeSpring is not about the big contributions of any one person. It’s not about making a huge individual impact. Rather, it’s about faithfulness and obedience to the small things.
When each person listens well and obeys quickly, each doing their small part faithfully, God brings us together like pieces of a puzzle. We begin to share the same love, spirit, and mind like in the passage above. Then in some way that only God knows, our efforts work together for a kingdom purpose.
As we shared testimonies in our small discipleship group, we started to recognize the strands in how God brought all our individual efforts together for a single purpose. And what it took was not big visions and plans, but a willingness to be faithful with the small things.