I was born in a small town. Things were pretty quiet until the day Hardees opened.
I remember the day vividly. A nationally known restaurant was coming to our neck of the woods. For some reason, my dad wanted to be the first in line that day, so we got up early and went.
ClampWhen we pulled in the parking lot, the mayor was already inside waiting to give his order. My dad said, “Go through the drive in.” As we got our sausage biscuit, he asked the server if our order went through first. As serious as he could be, he asked her to sign the receipt so he could prove to the mayor that he was the first customer. It now sits in a frame next to my Pete Rose autograph! We thought the day would never come, but our small town was officially on the map because we had a fast-food restaurant.
According to a 2007 U.N. report, more people now live in cities than rural areas for the first time in history. The trend of civilization is moving from the small town to the big city. You may be in a small town and find yourself thinking, “What difference am I going to make in this small town? Can anything good come out of here?” They asked the same question about Nazareth.
I recall reading about someone of great importance who came out of a little town called Bethlehem and grew up in a place called Nazareth. Both were just sleeper towns of a few hundred – but when God showed up, everything changed.
Before you hop on the train to the city, maybe God wants to show up in your small community in a powerful way. I believe that the people in your small town are just as important to God as those running around in the city. I believe that God is in the business of taking places and people that others don’t notice, and using them to do something extraordinary.
Impact is not limited by the population of your town, but by the size of your vision. When God shows up, vision is expanded. Start prayerfully asking the question, “If money wasn’t an issue, what would God want us to do? If we knew we couldn’t fail, what would we attempt? What do we need to stop doing, in order to do what God is calling us to do through our church?” Those are the kinds of questions that start movements.
So this Christmas season as you ride through your community looking at lights, think about what God did through that little town of Bethlehem. Let it be a reminder to you that God may use your small town to change the world.
Merry Christmas!
– Clamp is evangelism group director for the South Carolina Baptist Convention. Follow Lee on twitter @leeclamp or on his blog at www.leeclamp.com.