One of the hardest things for people to see is how a single little act will produce ridiculous results if it is done over and over and over again. This applies in all kinds of situations:  weight loss, physical conditioning, financial discipline, and especially spiritual disciplines. This Sunday, we’ll get to see an incredible example of what I’m talking about.

Cullen Swearingen is graduating from seminary. As a side note, this will be the third person from Western Hills to graduate from seminary since I’ve been here: Parker Dane, Dave Parker (now pastor at First Southern Baptist in Abilene, KS), and Cullen. It’s a big deal that we invest in these leaders. We get to have a huge place in their journey. We’ve given them opportunities to lead and teach. We’ve helped financially. We’ve prayed over them, and we’ve followed them.

But the real thing to be impressed by is their own long, slow walk of obedience.  To wrestle with being called by God, then taking one step after another to affirm it.  To get equipped for it.  To be teachable in the middle of it.  To take the road, knowing there is an enemy that is actively trying to discourage and destroy you in the middle of it.

As for Cullen, I remember him walking into our student ministry as a junior in high school. A little scrawny, bearded boy who, at the time, had more interest in a certain little redhead than anything else. Now he’s a scrawny, bearded man of God who married that sweet, little redheaded girl and is one of the most honest, servant minded men I know. He’s grown so much – in knowledge, in skills, in leadership.

And listen – all of that is important. But the most important thing not to miss is this: He understands the long, slow walk of obedience. It’s about keeping at it, little by little, every day. Each day. It’s being more focused on Him who is leading the journey than worrying about exactly where that journey is going.

The most dangerous person in the Kingdom is the one who thinks their talent and gifting are enough. People like that have a huge blind spot that ends up ambushing them in someway. It’s the person who quietly, humbly submits to Jesus every moment that makes a bigger difference. It’s the one who is more in love with the Giver of those talents and gifts than the gifts themselves. It’s the person who is willing to take that long, slow walk of transformation who will have a lifelong impact for the Kingdom.

And I’m so thankful that we’ve gotten to watch the first chapter of such a walk in Cullen.

Watch him grow in his walk, grow in his faith, and grow in his leadership. And while those things are important, it’s not as important as the long, slow walk of obedience that a seminary degree represents.