Small = Big.

"And the King will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you have done to the least of my brethren, you have done to me." -Matthew 25:40.

According to the world, success is in numbers. The amount of viewers for this past superbowl was at 111 million, therefore it was considered the most successful game yet. If a restaurant is teeming with customers so that there is a wait of half an hour or more, it is considered to be a more successful business than a mom-and-pop's diner that has a scanty flow. If a church has an average attendance of a couple thousand, it is considered more successful than a small church of a couple hundred. If someone goes on a mission trip and there are a hundred people saved during that time, the mission trip is considered more successful than one that only has one person or even none that are "saved." Worldly success is in numbers.

But God's

success

is in

quality.

I have been convicted about this. I have taken on the mentality of the world. The youth groups are automatically cooler if they have more students because, of course with more students there are more opportunities. Larger churches are fantastic because with a larger group is more talent and since my worship love language is music, thats what I aim for! More friends = a happier life. What I have realized but failed to accept is that life is just as good, nay, better, if the quality of the relationships that we have outweigh the quantity of relationships. My church may be small, my youth group may be small, and my circle of friends may be small, but I guarantee that those relationships that I have with those people would be spread so thin that they would barely exist if everything in life was larger. And I wouldn't trade it for anything.

The same goes for the kingdom of heaven. What is the point of being a follower of Jesus if we just get lost in the crowd? What is the point of being a child of God if we just join a subculture that all dresses, talks, and acts alike? Granted, if we are all true followers of Christ, there will be similarities, just as there are physical similarities in families. What is the point of winning someone for Christ if we just tally them in on our list of "spiritual successes?"

It's about quality, not quantity. How can we just look over the masses of people in the world and not really see their hearts? Everyone is human, no one is less then human and no one is more than human. We all have feelings, wants, and needs. Like the need for food, water, and love. Why do we just look over those masses and not realize that?

People have asked me when I will be going back to Africa. I don't know when. If God wills it, within the next couple of years, but I might never go back. I might die tomorrow on American soil. But until I go back to Africa, God has really convicted me to love everyone like they are human. To build relationships with everyone that I meet, focusing on that particular person as if they are the most important thing in the world and loving them like they are.

The entire world might be beyond us. We might never go to China, or Africa, or the Amazon. But we can love the least of these, remembering that we are loving Christ at the same time.