Years after my first readings, I remain astounded by the way Francis Schaeffer spoke about image-bearers.
For many years I have studied his life and writings, sat under those who lived as understudy to Schaeffer for several years, and my life-course has been impacted as a result of his life. Professor Douglas Groothuis has called Schaeffer, “the mentor I never met,” and “large in gifts and ministry and heart,” to which I agree enthusiastically.
Francis was known as a friend and neighbor, an informal counselor, a pastor-evangelist, a prophet crying out in his time and for those who would come after.
He had a way of valuing each person in front of him, as well as the small towns, villages, or tribes they may come from. He was known to preach and live in light of this reality: “there are no little people, no little places.”
The Lord used Schaeffer’s life to shape those from many corners, known and unknown, from various religious, social-economic, ethnic, educational, and family backgrounds. If he was preaching at a beautiful church meeting space or a well-known university, he would also be concerned with the people across the street. He and his wife were known for their hospitality and genuine care.
This way of life-ministry might be called unique; I think he simply lived with his principal biblical convictions upheld, which is all too rare. “Throughout all of my work there is a common unifying theme, which I would define as ‘the Lordship of Christ in the totality of life.’ If Christ is indeed Lord, he must be Lord of all life…” (From The Great Evangelical Disaster)
The circumstances, challenges, and questions a person was facing could not to be neglected when on a mountain walk with Francis. His lectures at L’Abri (the family ministry home base) and around the world, were not afraid to brush up against and confront the real world confusions and crises which man lives in the midst of, as well as the personal problems he experiences. ‘Honest questions, honest answers,’ was one of the mottos he lived by, which was an open invitation.
Schaeffer had a sense of the gravity of what people were walking through—a biblically grounded, compassionate perspective—his care for the person as a person necessitated it be so. The Lord saw fit to use this as a bolster of encouragement for the saints, as well as the means for many to be brought to repentance and faith as they set their hope on Christ.
Is love for the household of faith, as well as those outside, not to be our lived-reality in light of God’s Word?
Was Christ not raised up to draw men from every language, tribe, and nation?
Is not man more significant than we could ever take time to comprehend?
Who was set over all the created order from the beginning?
Should this not materialize in the way we spend our time and give of ourselves?
Do we care for the matters which are most important to the people in front of us?
Men are of more value than the skies and their stars, than the great animals and their habitat; man truly bears the Maker’s mark like nothing else in all creation.
C.S. Lewis famously said, “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously – no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption.” —C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
I knew a dear friend who started up his own chapati stand on the corner nearest my home. I was sharing the gospel with him months on end, calling him to repentance and faith, as we knew each other more. He had reached the city of Arua, from a village outside; he had made it big. People in Kampala may view the city of Arua as a town, or a village, but those from surrounding places view it as everything. This particular friend said, “I came from a nowhere place, and now I have reached somewhere; I have seen Arua, I have seen the world. Not like my people back there, my fathers, who have done nothing and been nowhere.”
This struck me, and saddened my heart. He was tempted and believed that his own place and people were of no consequence, which could not be further from the truth.
Chasing a bigger place, a higher position, will do us no good. Desiring to be a ‘big man’ will do you no earthly or eternal good. You will come to find that those who exalt themselves up will be brought down by the only One worthy of praise and adoration and glory. At the same time, God delights to exalt the humble. We are not privy to see the hearts of men, as God sees, so we must meet people where they are, relationally answer their questions, and point them to Christ the ultimate answer. We pray for the Spirit to bring life to dead places, for a clean heart in place of a heart of stone, for clear sight where there was only blindness.
We must get the gospel right, then see all else through it. We have the whole counsel of God’s Word conforming us to the image of Christ, rather than the pattern of the world. Indeed, this is the grace of God at work in the life of the believer. Surely as we see grow in seeing God as He is, we will see man as he truly is. Our desire is to get this message to everyone, no matter their position or what rung they are standing on in this world.
One of the utmost joys of my life has been to land on a dirt airstrip in a small village of South Sudan. There, we share in fellowship with a small band of believers who are spurring on local churches in truth, discipling their families and evangelizing their neighbors, and going out as missionaries to those with no gospel access, in hard locations. I tell them I do not know Juba, the big city, but it is the delight of my life to come and know their place—that is a great reality in God’s kindness! They are seen, not forgotten. They are known and have great purpose.
Not many know the name of this village, the names of these dear brothers and sisters, but God knows each and every one. They are his. And those they are going out to, ministering to day by day and on mission, those they work in the field with and sit by the roadside with beneath the mango tree—each has intrinsic value as an image-bearer of Almighty God.
The way God has seen fit to give people what they need most is through other image-bearers who have been brought to life by the Spirit through the good news of Jesus Christ. As God’s people are taking time, giving themselves in prayer, laboring to present the gospel with clarity to their fellow man, showing sacrificial love, God delights to shine the light of the gospel and pour out his grace through his church.
Those young children, those from another tribe, those difficult neighbors, those near and those far off, those with lesser mental capacity due to birth defect, sickness, or fewer education opportunities, are no less image-bearers than any other.
We must be transformed by the renewing of our mind, by the Holy Spirit sanctifying us according to the truth of God’s Word, that we would see those around us just as God sees them.
Lord, help us to count no person as insignificant, no place as too small or mattering any less. Teach us to give you glory in all things, among all people, in each place you ordain for us to be. Whether we eat or drink, wherever we travel, whatever position we find ourselves in, whoever we are around, give us wisdom and grace to do all for your glory.
You are no little person. Your family matters.
The place you grew and where you now live.
The office, shop, or field where you work.
The school where you study.
Why?
Because it matters to God.
Abraham Kuiper said: “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: “Mine!“
Take time to read more here:
Here are a few other links: https://christoverall.com/article/concise/no-little-people-no-little-places-francis-schaeffers-vision-of-faithfulness/ and: https://library.sebts.edu/ld.php?content_id=16812100. I recommend anything written by Schaeffer for your study.
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