After Jesus’ resurrection, he met Simon Peter on the shore of the Sea of Galilee (John 21). Three times, Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” Three times, Peter responded that he did–one proclamation of love for each time Peter had denied knowing Jesus. Finally, Jesus told him, “Follow me.” Like so many of us, Peter looked around to see what everyone else was doing. “What about him?” Peter asked, pointing his thumb at John. Jesus told him to quit worrying about John. Then he affirmed again: “You follow me.”

Why does God have you serving in a small church when so much seems to be happening in bigger churches? Ever ask that question. It is so easy for those of us that God calls to serve in small churches to long for exponential growth that God grants in other places. We want to grow a youth ministry that can really make a difference in a lot of kids’ lives . . . and can maybe even change the community in which we live. Those things seem to be so much easier in mega-churches. It can be hard to reach teenagers in a small church. So many kids want to be where the other kids are. The size of our church can realy be a hindrance. And we lack the resources for impacting the school, community, and world that big churches seem to have.

Like Peter, we have our eyes on other people instead of on ourselves. For Peter, it wasn’t a matter of envy. I think he really wanted the best for John. It probably isn’t a matter of envy for us either. It’s just that we are looking at others–what Jesus is doing in their lives–rather than keeping our eyes focused on Jesus and doing exactly what he has called us to do when he said, “You follow me.”