A mustard seed starts as something very small, the smallest of all seeds. But it eventually becomes something huge. Palestinian mustard plants can grow up to 12 feet tall. The illustration Jesus is making is clear: Things seemingly small and insignificant are often quite the opposite. But in what way does that describe the Kingdom?

To a first century Jew expecting a Messiah to come and overthrow Rome, the life of Jesus would seem very small and insignificant. He was convicted by the authorities of the religion he claimed to uphold. He was crucified by the nation that the Messiah was expected to conquer. And the followings he amassed were always either small, unreliable, or both. Given the expectation of what the Messiah would do, it would seem that Jesus accomplished very little through His life and death.

God seems to love irony. The life and death of this seemingly insignificant person from Nazareth was the biggest, most significant thing ever to happen in the history of humanity. “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (Mark 12:10). The end result of this seemingly insignificant man is a Kingdom (the church) far greater and influential than any political country or kingdom.

And it doesn’t stop with Jesus. This principle of God accomplishing his work through the seemingly insignificant is true of not only the beginning of His Kingdom but of it’s expansion, too. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:27, “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.”

I see this intersecting my every-day life in two ways:
1. It reminds me that we bring nothing to the table: Have you ever had the thought, “I really wish ____ would come to faith because that person is SO extraverted and influential. He would make a huge impact on the Kingdom.”? As if God needs important or influential people to accomplish His purposes.

Do we really think that God NEEDS celebrities and extraverts to expand His Kingdom? God launched this whole Christian movement with a Nazarene and 12 fickle, uneducated knuckleheads who fled the scene when things got dangerous. His options were truly endless, and yet that is how He chose to do it. Similarly, God is using the small, seemingly insignificant people like you and I (as part of His church) to advance His Kingdom. He doesn’t need celebrities to make it happen.

2. The ordinary is significant: Just like God chose 12 ordinary uneducated men as his means, He has chosen me to lead my family, serve His church and share His gospel.  That may mean that I need to spend less time dreaming about the “big things” that I could accomplish and focus more on the ordinary.

I remember as a high school student always looking for the next spiritual benchmark. I longed for that camp, or that trip, or that mentor that would take my faith to the next level. I treated those things as if they were the apex of spirituality. Ironically, the apex is the ordinary: Sitting with God’s people (church) under the preached word; Shepherding my wife by reading Scripture together; Taking the Lord’s Supper. Those things aren’t sexy, but neither are mustard seeds. These seemingly small things deserve my full attention. They are the means God has appointed for the expansion of His Kingdom in my life and around the world.