The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Message summary: In our view the vast, vast majority of work being done for God is done by ordinary people doing ordinary things out of the spotlight.

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It seems that every generation of young people really wants to make a difference in their world. In my youth when I was just beginning my Christian walk I recall being challenged many times to "do something great for God". In response to that challenge and God’s call upon my life I entered Bible College and embarked upon ministry. There I met Brooksyne who was also preparing for ministry. We, along with many of our peers, had an earnest desire to "do something great for God". After all, the phrase, "Do something ordinary for God" would certainly not be much of an aspiration!

That was nearly 50 years ago now (ouch!) and life is continually transitioning day by day, year after year. I don't imagine any objective analysis of my life up to this point would warrant a claim that I've done anything really great. I've never pastored a large or nationally known local church. I never gained fame as a worldwide evangelist such as Billy Graham or lesser known evangelists. For sure my name is not associated with recording artists! As a writer I don't have any published books or best-sellers although I have found satisfaction in preparing these daily messages since 1996. This, along with my service as a chaplain to some 500 employees in various companies, is currently the way I serve. Of course Brooksyne and I share both of these ministries together. We have appreciated gracious feedback over the years indicating that we have touched people's lives but certainly make no claim to greatness or being in any spotlight.

The aspiration to do something great is commendable. Yet a sense of unworthiness can sweep over a person, who, after an honest assessment of their giftings or lack thereof, realize they're simply unable to accomplish anything reckoned as great by others. Many have dropped the baton of service when their aspiring dream never fully materialized. They could only imagine worthiness of ministry if serving in a big way or in the spotlight.

Doug Black has an interesting ministry as a purposeful bi-vocational pastor in Philadelphia (he's also a web designer). He sees his ministry right where he's at, and also serves in his local church and in other settings as well. He's certainly not in any spotlight and that's not what he seeks.

He makes an interesting point that is so instructive. "There are a lot of people trying to grab the spotlight in our world. The platforms that have no spotlight or that are far away from the spotlight are always empty so we need to find God right there." I believe Doug is saying to look for ministry opportunities that don't always have the spotlight on them, those that may be ordinary.

We propose another aspiration that may initially seem rather uninspiring: "Do something ordinary for God!" All of us can do that and faithfulness in the ordinary really does matter. In our view the vast, vast majority of work being done for God is by ordinary people doing ordinary things out of the spotlight.

Now, praise God, sometimes the ordinary does become great, such as the young boy with the fish and bread that Jesus multiplied to feed the crowd. He simply offered the ordinary he had and Jesus performed the miracle. We read nothing more in Scripture of that boy again. We can assume he went on to live an ordinary life, hopefully in faithful service to Christ. Our aspiration should be to glorify God in our obedience and service to Him, not to make anything great of ourselves, let alone seek the spotlight.

Let us consider the daily verse, written to a group of people "The Hebrews", none of whom we know by name. But as part of the Holy Scriptures we can read this verse applying it to our own lives.

Be encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber