Are You Trustworthy in the Small Things?

In retrospect, it’s hard to believe I had this conversation with myself.

My husband and I host an annual gathering of friends where we provide BBQ and our friends bring appetizers, sides, and desserts to share. It’s a pot-luck-a-palooza. My husband brews craft beer as a hobby, so in addition to other beverages, he always has a fresh brew on tap. A couple of years ago, anticipating a large gathering, we braved our local warehouse store to buy the bulk items we’d need. I loaded up our cart with napkins, plates, plastic forks, and a 240-count bag of red plastic cups for beverages, craft beer or otherwise.

On the day of the party, however, my husband brought out all of his large collection of pint glasses to serve our guests who wanted to partake. At the end of the day, only seven red cups had been used.  I know this because I counted how many were left. I evened out the stacks, put the twist tie back on the bag and put them with the other, unopened, items I planned to return.

I looked at that bag of cups for a week. I put them in my car. I intended to return them as if they were new. Even though there were only 233 cups in there. I knew it wasn’t honest. I knew it wasn’t right. But I was managing to justify it anyway. I don’t need red plastic cups. I don’t have anywhere to store that many cups. No one would notice. Certainly not the clerk behind the counter. Certainly not the next person who purchased that bag of cups. Who would miss seven cups when you start with that many? Rationalizing our actions can look wonky.

I sat in the parking lot of the warehouse store debating. Would I do the right thing? The most Christ-like thing? Or do the small, seemingly insignificant but immensely tempting thing that no one would ever know about but me?

Am I the only one who sometimes stumbles over the small things?

As Christ-followers, there is always someone else who knows our thoughts. In the middle of my conversation, Jesus’ words about trusting someone with the little things intersected my thoughts, arresting that internal dialogue.

I’ve studied the Bible enough to know what the Spirit was prompting me to recall.

Jesus told a parable about a manager who was called to account for the dishonest management of his master’s wealth. This employee, knowing he was about to be put out on the street without any kind of severance package or 401K plan to fall back on, quickly determined how to settle accounts in a manner that endeared him to his masters debtors, causing his master to give a nod of commendation to him for his shrewd and quick thinking (Luke 16:1-9).

As Jesus uses the parable to teach his disciples about the compassionate use of wealth, and he’s very aware that Pharisees are listening in.

Jesus closed with this warning:   

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? … You cannot serve both God and Money” (Luke 19:10-12, 13b).

The Pharisees loved money more than God. Their lives reflected values that were anchored more in their culture than in their faith. It’s possible the rabbis had started charging their students a fee for their religious training.* Maybe they were skimming the Temple treasury.  We don’t know the specifics of what Jesus was referring to in that moment, but we do know their response was decidedly unspiritual. They sneered at him.

Jesus goes on to reprimand the listening Pharisees directly, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight” (Lk 16:15).

This is where life and faith most often intersect. In the small things.

Red plastic cups are a small thing. An hour here or there wrongly reported on a time card is a small thing. That expensive outfit, worn once, with the tag still on it, is a small thing.  A worldy thing. If we cannot be trusted to act faithfully and with Godly character in this, why would God entrust his true riches, his eternal things to us?

Jesus is asking, will we jeopardize our relationship with him and the witness God has purposed us to have over 7 red plastic cups and $11, or that hour, or that store credit card bill, or whatever it is that is your little thing?

Wow, Jesus. When you put it that way – no, I don’t want to be found sneering. I want to be found trustworthy with the little things.

We encounter these opportunities every day – in our jobs, our relationships, in the conversations we have during our car time with our kids or our girl’s nights out. And sometimes, in the parking lot of the warehouse store. Will we choose to be trustworthy with what we have already been given as a Christ-follower? Will we reflect the image of Christ in these every day intersections or will we be Pharisee-like and somehow justify our less than faithful decisions, words, and actions? 

These small things should be no-brainers. But sometimes, we need to revisit simple faith lessons. They seem insignificant, but they aren’t. We think no one else will know, but God knows our hearts. Don’t compromise your faith. Be trustworthy in the little things, and be ready for God to entrust you with his true riches.

And, if you happen to need red plastic cups, I still have plenty to share.

*This idea came from The Expositor’s Bible Commentary on this passage.