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| Get Small; Think Big Last year, my wife and I finally sold our house. It had been on the market for 17 months. The house sold in September 2008, for significantly less than it would have in September 2006. It was a huge, old house with more than 4,000 square feet. But like many empty-nesters whose kids are in college, we didn’t want to rattle around in a house so big it straddled two time zones. Our experience is not unique. In fact, in the past 10 years a countercultural movement has been growing in what — up until recently — has been a “bigger is better” and “super-size-my-world” culture. I’m talking about the tiny house movement, or small house movement. People are building smaller houses these days, a small house being anything under 1,000 square feet. Many are living in houses of 100 square feet or less. The advantages are astounding. Of course the financial difference is huge, although building smaller allows one to spend more money on better and fancier materials and upgrades. The carbon footprint is negligible. The time one spends taking care of a large home is now available for other passions and pursuits. And more. The Small House Society was founded by Jay Shafer, Shay Salomon, Nigel Valdez and Gregory Johnson as a way to counter the McMansion mentality of exurbia. Their blog is at http://tinyhouseblog.com and the Web site www.resourcesforlife.com has a link to this movement. You can build a small house of 196 square feet (14’ x 14’) that includes a 10 x 14 loft and a 3 x 4 porch, and in most locales no permits are needed for construction. Why is this of homiletical significance? As pastors, we try to help people experience the abundant life Jesus promised according to John 10. Unfortunately, too often, the “good life” has equated to a “big” life. We love having big things: big cars, big houses, big swimming pools, big- screen TVs, big beds, big kitchens, big garages. But, that which is big is becoming small. We’re transitioning in the United States to a post-big world — a world to which “old Europe” (Donald Rumsfeld’s expression) — has already moved. There, as many of you know, cars are smaller, public transportation more readily available, and there’s a door to every room, allowing for more efficient use of heat. And houses have traditionally been smaller. Granted, you’ll have to make a strong argument to help me understand why a huge plasma-screen TV isn’t a good thing. But in many other areas of life, we’re moving toward miniaturization, not maximization. In my father’s study, circa 1960, one could find a typewriter, reams of paper, a Leica camera, bulky photo albums, filing cabinets, a reel-to-reel tape recorder, a television set, a black rotary-dial telephone and a hi-fidelity stereo mahogany console. Hi-fi. The latest and greatest. Today, it’s wi-fi, and all of these items and their functions that comprised a roomful of furniture in my father’s well-equipped office, have now been compressed into one tiny, shiny gadget which I can hold in the palm of my hand, and slip into my jacket pocket. But while technology goes miniature and nano, we still prefer to live to the max and live large. And in the ecclesiastical ethos, the same mentality too often exists. We want to get big fast, and quality and flexibility and truth are often the first victims. The current economic climate is rife with preaching and teaching opportunities — not only to help people through their own crises, but to inaugurate a fundamental shift in worldview and in one’s approach to living life and doing church. Small is the new big. Simple pleasures are the best. Walking by faith and not by sight is most rewarding. Like I said, small is the new big. Of course, I didn’t make that up. Seth Godin’s been saying that for years. He was saying it so much that he wrote a book by the same title, full of acorns and chestnuts. He tells people not to read it all at once because “It took eight years to write, and if you read it in one sitting, it’ll give you a headache.” In making a case for small, among other things, he says, “A small church [for example] has a minister with the time to visit you in the hospital when you’re sick.” So, in such matters, judgment begins at the house of God. How could you, as the pastor, jump-start a discussion about improving your church’s carbon footprint? How might you as the shepherd of this flock help the sheep understand that the grass is greener on this side of the fence? How might you discourage building plans and launch a study of how to utilize your current space, or find other alternatives to building, and use what funds might be saved in the process to make a difference in your community? Think about it. I often wonder how my mother and father got an education when the teacher was limited to books, the Dewey Decimal System, filmstrips, flannel-graph boards, white chalk and a blackboard. How was an education possible then without laptops, smart boards and Google? How in the world did a carpenter from a little dusty village in the Middle East absolutely cause a seismic shift in his own civilization and those to come with help from only a few fishermen and others of doubtful character? Jesus was not about big; he was about small — the mustard seed, the grain of wheat that falls to the ground, the sparrow, the lily of the fields, a sower who sowed and children playing in the marketplace. Crowds came to him, but he ran away from them more often than not. He preferred to talk to the leper, or the prostitute, or the tax collector, or the woman at the well or a Pharisee at night. Jesus was small, but thought big. Kingdom big. For Jesus, the mark of greatness was not how many people you had serving you, but the people you were serving. How did Jesus do it? Godin gives us hints, although he wasn’t thinking of Jesus. He says, “If your target audience isn’t listening, it’s not their fault; it’s yours.” Jesus’ audience was — and is — listening. Again: “What makes you remarkable is being amazing, outstanding, surprising, elegant and noteworthy.” Having a big house, a big church, a big car, a big mortgage does not make us remarkable. Big is not beautiful. Big is bad. Big is consumptive. Big is expensive. Used to be embarrassing to live in a small house. Not any more. Small is smart. Small is suave. Small is sophisticated. To live small is to be a success. Like Godin says, “Small is the new big only when the person running the small thinks big. Don’t wait. Get small. Think big.”
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