Little Before Men But Big In God

by Pastor Mitch Horton | May 2004

Our culture places great value on our personal worth. Seminars are conducted on "assertiveness training" for business men and women. The Army now advertises with the slogan "an army of one." When we come into the family of God, it's easy to have a "what's in it for me" attitude regarding our walk with God.

Recently while studying 1 Timothy, the first word of the first verse "jumped out at me" as I begin to read: "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ."I could read no further. The word Paul literally means "little." Of course, Paul was formerly known as Saul in his BC (before Christ) days. In fact, when he was a child, he was called Saul among his Jewish family and friends, and Paul among Gentiles.

Referring to himself as Paul reminded him of at least two things. It reminded him of his call as "the Apostle to the Gentiles," It also reminded him of his complete dependence upon the Lord Jesus for daily wisdom, strength, and ability to fulfill the ministry entrusted to him. He was of little stature, and God wanted him to see himself differently in his own eyes.

In Paul's first career as a devout Jew and prominent persecutor of Christians, he was full of pride and self- confidence. We find him first mentioned as the one who held the coats of those who stoned Stephen in Acts 7:58. In Acts 8:3, he continued to bring great harm to the church by disrupting families and committing men and women to prison. In Acts 9:1-2, we find Paul threatening to murder believers. He went to the chief priest asking for permission to apprehend Christians and bring them to Jerusalem. But his experience with Jesus on the Damascus road in Acts 9 changed him from an arrogant, boastful, religious man, to a humble, obedient servant of Jesus!

As he opened his letter to Timothy, his name, Paul, little, was a witness and an example of how we should view our own natural abilities! In Philippians 3, Paul lists his accomplishments as a Jew: circumcised on the eighth day of life (denoting strict obedience to the law), a descendent of Benjamin; a Pharisee; and a blameless man according to Jewish law. His people esteemed him because he led the opposition to this new religion called Christianity.

But Paul called all of his earthly training and esteem loss (Phil. 3:7,) and rubbish or trash (Phil. 3:8) in comparison to the intimacy with God he gained through Jesus! From the moment of his salvation experience throughout his ministry, he referred to himself in self deprecating terms such as "one born out of due time" (an aborted fetus among men) (1 Corinthians 15: 8-9) and "less than the least of all saints" (Ephesians 3:8).

Paul was one of the most educated and scholarly men of his day, but he was brought to the place that he said of all his earthly wisdom, "But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are" (1 Corinthians 1:27-28).

The reason that he had to be able to say that about his education and community status was so that his flesh would not boast about its accomplishments in God's presence (1 Corinthians 1:29). Now instead of boasting in his degrees and human, ability, he trembled before he spoke to an audience, and would rather people see the power of God than for them to see his human ability! (See 1 Corinthians 2:1-5). True followers of Jesus hide their own expertise, accomplishments, and ability!

After his experience with Jesus, Paul learned to, "boast in his weakness, that the power of Christ" could work through him! (See 2 Corinthians 12:9-10). And as you and I grow spiritually, we also learn that God will most often use us in our areas of weakness so that He can do His work with His ability through us!

John the Baptist said it best when he said, "He must increase, but I must decrease." If we are boastful of our talents, education, status, and skills, Jesus will require us to lay them at His feet before He can use us. And likewise, if we feel that we have no ability, He will require of us that we focus no longer on our weakness, but on His strength!

Many years ago as a young man just starting out in ministry, I was focused on what I could NOT do. The Lord placed me in positions that demanded that I look beyond my own meager natural abilities. I knew that I would fail if He did not help me with His strength. During this time God gave me 1 Corinthians 4:3 in the J.B. Phillips translation to guide me: "It matters very little what you, or any man thinks of me; I don't even value my opinion of myself.but He that judges me is the Lord." He taught me to look away from my thoughts of what I could or couldn't do and instead to concentrate on who He is in me. It changed my life!

We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:10). As we look away from ourselves unto Jesus, we'll find a new dimension of life where we're no longer afraid of weakness, the unknown, new ventures, etc. We will not trust only in our education, degrees, talents, and natural abilities. We'll become confident, not in ourselves, but in His ability that is resident within us, we'll be fulfilling what the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the prophet many hundreds of years ago:

"Thus says the Lord, let not the wise and skillful person glory and boast in his wisdom and skill; let not the mighty and powerful person glory and boast in his strength and power; let not the person who is rich - in physical gratification and earthly wealth - glory and boast in his temporal satisfaction and earthly riches. But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, personally and practically, directly discerning my character, that I am the Lord who practices loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth - for in these things I delight, says the Lord. (Jeremiah 9:23-24 - Amplified Translation)