Never doubt the value of the little things in God’s economy. Your small act of daily obedience may be the turning point in someone’s life.
By now you may have read this article from The Gospel Coalition regarding Becket Cook.
Ten years ago, having earned a glowing high-profile reputation as a set designer in the fashion industry, Cook was among the Hollywood elite. His work took him around the globe, placed him in prestigious magazines like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, and earned him an invitation to parties hosted by Hollywood royalty.
However, Cook, a gay man engaged in an active homosexual lifestyle, became disenchanted with the peak of fame, fortune, sexuality and fashion. Unsatisfied, he began to wonder if there was more to life.
The article recounts Cook’s experience of being introduced to the church through a small group of believers who were reading their Bibles at a coffee shop.
Having assumed God was “off the table” for him as a gay man, Becket was alarmed to find hope in the Gospel of Jesus Christ as presented unashamedly from the Word of God. He threw himself into sermons, Bible-centered instruction and personal discipleship in the local church.
The article explores in detail how the LGBTQ movement has created a driving narrative in Western culture and how stories like Becket’s fit within that unfolding narrative. There is much to gain from the article, and Cook’s story is told compellingly with great truth, compassion and candidness.
The article makes a splash in many ways because it’s about Hollywood, LA, fashion, homosexuality, fame and a “Road to Damascus” experience for a man amidst a cultural firestorm.
But there’s a quiet story inside this story.
What God used in such an extraordinary account is something we might consider to be extraordinarily ordinary.
While God was doing a great work in the heart of fashion icon Becket Cook, God had also established regular rhythms for a small group of young believers. When they took their Bibles to the LA coffee shop that day, they likely expected nothing more than good coffee, quiet atmosphere and another regular day of reading the Scriptures.
Likely none of the young adults engaged in their Bible reading that day thought they were doing something of momentous cultural and spiritual significance. Some, like myself, may have felt somewhat shy at opening up God’s Word in such a public setting – not wanting to appear pretentious or “preachy.”
But in the hands of a Sovereign God, small things matter.
Had those young adults known they were going to engage in a conversation about biblical sexual ethics, they might have felt ill-equipped. Had they known Cook was a famous Hollywood set designer and active member of the gay community, they may have been tempted to sit in a different area discreetly – or even capitulate to the cultural tides when asked about homosexuality instead of standing firm on biblical convictions.
But they didn’t. They read their Bibles, were available for questions and invited someone to church.
Do you ever consider how regular, monotonous obedience might be used in the hands of a Sovereign God?
While the article, “From Gay to Gospel” is a great story of God’s work in the life of a cultural elite, it is also quietly a story about unremarkable faithfulness to God being used by God for His glory.
This amazing story of redemption, fame and sex is just as much a story about small obedience.
Never doubt the value of the little things in God’s economy. Your small act of daily obedience may be the turning point in someone’s life. It may be the beginning of a great conversation about the Gospel in the LGBTQ community. Or it may be another day of reading the Scripture over a tall latte that seems insignificant and habitual.
Either way, read your Bible. Be available. Invite someone to church. You never know what God might do.