From the Pastor

“Whoever is faithful in very little, is also faithful in very much” (Luke 16:10a).

On ‘Pixels’ and the ‘Big Picture’

Pastor Dave I can still remember the old ‘Brownie’ box camera we had when I was a kid. It took the best black and white pictures ever. They were taken on film, of course, and when they came back from the developer after several days, we would talk about the events they had captured only a few days ago. It might not have been ancient history, but there was enough of a gap between event and printed photo to allow time for reflection. Now, pictures are digital. Film has almost gone the way of the Dodo bird. The image is immediate and, if someone was caught with an awkward expression, then retaken on the spot. History, it would seem, isn’t what it used to be.

Digital pictures are just that; digital. They’re made up of little bits of memory rather than images of light and shadow on film. What we see as a whole picture is, in fact, made up of little bits of information called ‘pixels.’ These pixels don’t mean much by themselves, but gathered together they give us the whole picture.

I doubt that our Lord had digital pictures in mind as He spoke about debts and forgiveness, but I believe Jesus gets “life.” He understood how whole pictures and people’s lives are constructed. The bigger picture of life is made up of smaller acts.
For some time, some of our lay-leaders and I have talked about the ‘big picture’ of how we need to transformation as we look to our ministries’ future. No doubt, this is hard to grasp, but I believe the ‘big picture’ is nothing more than finding the best way to promote the gospel to our society, neighbors, and the realities of our future.

At first glance we want to see the ‘big picture’ whole and understandable right away but in reality, it seems fuzzy. But our future, like pictures of the digital age, are made up of small pieces, singular acts or decisions, that eventually weave together to make a whole. On their own, each singular act may not make as we look at the final picture, but combining them with other choices and acts form a comprehensible whole. One ‘pixel’ provides meaning when assembled with the entire pixel collection. The ‘big picture’ is made up of a thousand little ones. Each one is ‘big’ by itself, of course, but does not represent the whole.

Recently, I was asked, “What’s this ‘big picture’ for the church all about? I’m not sure I see it?” My reply was essentially, “Well, it’s made up of this, and made up of that, and then some of this, too.” As evasive as that may sound, it’s the only real answer. In the past few years FLCC has taken many new pathways, made many tough choices, and by doing so enabled newer pathways and choices to appear. They’re all ‘pixels’ of the bigger picture. We’d like to make sure each pixel is a meaningful part of the whole, but often up close they don’t appear to fit. But, in the final picture, what I believe we will find is that every choice, every path taken was done with the hope of making that big picture a great one. Some pixels seem dark, others light.

Some make up a part of the earth at our feet while others reflect the sky. Byte by byte, act by act, they reflect the image of the whole that the Holy Spirit alone can see. Our job is to have faith that God indeed has the bigger picture clearly in mind, made up of our lives, one ‘pixel’ at a time.

Pastor Dave

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