A few times in life I have had individuals tell me that some small thing that I shared long ago had a life-altering impact on them. Usually when that has happened, I have not been able to remember the moment, or it seemed like a small thing to me at the time. Sometimes what may look to the human eye to have been insignificant or maybe even an utter failure was, in God’s view, a success.
Let me tell you a story.
Years ago, while serving as president of the Illinois Conference in the United States, I passed through a town in the southern part of the state where I knew there were evangelistic meetings being held by the local church. I had some time and decided to stop by unannounced at the hotel where the meetings were being held.
When I arrived, the meeting was already in progress. I bypassed the registration table and went straight into the hall. It was all set up with a screen, projector, and sound system. The stage was nicely arranged, including plants and floral arrangements along the edge. The musicians had just concluded their part in the program; it was time for the pastor to preach. But as I looked around the room, I saw that there were very few people in attendance. In fact, I knew everyone in the room. Not a good sign!
The preacher stood up and launched into his sermon with gusto. He preached his heart out. You would have thought that he was preaching to thousands instead of the handful that were actually there. As I sat and listened, I wondered how he was able to throw himself so completely into a situation that others might have deemed a failure.
Later that evening, as I continued my drive toward home, I reflected on what I had experienced. Frankly, I was discouraged for the pastor and his congregation. They clearly had worked hard and spent significant dollars to make this meeting a success, but what I had just seen did not look like a win to me.
And then I remembered a Bible passage that seemed to speak directly to this situation:
“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:10, 11).
Could it be that this preacher’s efforts had not been in vain—that he had not failed? He had faithfully preached the Word of God and left the results to Him. Could it be that in the cosmic and invisible struggle between good and evil, ground was actually gained by the forces of good just because God’s Word had been spoken in that place?
SOMETHING HAPPENED
I don’t remember if there were any conversions or baptisms at the end of those meetings, but I can tell you that for a few weeks God’s Word was preached in that town, and He has promised that His Word will not come back to Him void. Something happened even if I didn’t see it with my eyes.
I heard another preacher some time ago proclaim on YouTube: “God didn’t call me to fill the pews; He called me to preach the Word.” Preachers are often called (inspired?) to preach difficult and unpopular messages. The YouTube preacher understood that just because he isn’t preaching to large crowds, that doesn’t mean he isn’t preaching “God’s Word.”
God’s Word is powerful. Through His Word the earth was created. At His Word the Red Sea was split. Hebrews 4:12 describes God’s Word as alive, active, and sharper than a two-edged sword.
While we don’t know the size of the crowd to which he preached, we do know that Noah’s preaching resulted in no converts except his seven family members. What we do know is that Noah preached faithfully for 120 years. Did he make an impact? Despite his seeming failure as a preacher, his adherence to and trust in the Word of God led to the saving of the human race and earned him a place in the list of faithful heroes in Hebrews 11.
One day in Capernaum Jesus spoke difficult words to His followers. He revealed Himself as having come from the Father. He spoke about His flesh and blood being the food and drink of eternal life. These were hard words for the crowd to understand, and the Bible says in John 6: “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (verse 66). It was a difficult sermon. The message was not popular with the crowd, and soon they drifted away. Jesus, left only with His 12 disciples, His inner circle, asked: “And what about you? Will you leave Me too?”
Peter, as he did so often, answered for the group:
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (verse 68).
Some might have looked at Jesus’ teaching and its results that day as a failure. The crowd dwindled because He faithfully taught the Word of God. Yet through His teaching and His actions He changed the course of humanity.
In 2000 Malcolm Gladwell popularized the phrase “tipping point” through his book of the same title. He maintains that major societal changes (tipping points) come about when a grouping of circumstances converge to make a major societal shift. No one action by itself causes the seismic shift. Gladwell’s work is not without challenges from sociologists, but one thing is certain: tipping points never come except through actions. If we do nothing, nothing will happen.
When I was young, I nearly wore out an album of music by T. Marshall Kelly. My favorite song on that album is “Little Is Much When God Is in It.” One verse goes like this:
“Does the place you’re called to labor
Seem so small and little known?
Well, it is great if God is in it
And He will not forsake His own.”
Reframing our definitions of success and failure is not a call to complacency in the preaching and teaching of God’s Word. The world doesn’t need more half-baked preaching. But it is a call to faithfulness in proclaiming the Word of God regardless of the size of the audience—whether it be through preaching or teaching. It is a call to recognize that God does not measure success the way that we do. It’s a call to understand that the faithful words we speak have power in both the visible and invisible realms. And when you are tempted to feel discouraged, to harbor thoughts of failure, remember that your simple actions may have an eternal impact in the struggle for good.
Ken Denslow, former Lake Union president, is now retired and living near Andrews University in Michigan, United States.
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