small

You know you live in a small town when.....

Third Street is on the edge of town.

You don't use your turn signals because everyone knows where you're going.

A baby born on June 14 receives gifts from local merchants as the first baby of the year.

You speak to each dog you pass by name and he wags his tail at you.

You dial a wrong number and talk for 15 minutes anyway.

You can't walk for exercise because every car that passes you offers you a ride.

In order to paint traffic lines, the road has to be widened

The Mayor is also the Sheriff, Town Council and street sweeper.

There is no town idiot -- everybody has to take turns.

You can name everyone you graduated with.

You have to drive an hour to buy a pair of socks.

You get a whiff of manure and think of home.

You fix yourself up to go buy groceries lest anyone starts the rumor that you have gained weight or quit taking care of yourself.

Friday nights fun consisted of standing in line for the one-screen theater and when it is sold out, watching truckers and drinking coffee at the truck stop (the only place open after 10).

Someone asks you how you feel and listens to what you say.

There are certainly some disadvantages to growing up in a small town, but some advantages as well. Especially when it comes to having people around you who truly care. In a large city, it's easy to find yourself surrounded by a sea of nameless faces. That is something that we dare not allow to happen in the church.

The 16th chapter of Paul's letter to the Romans is important, though you may have previously overlooked its significance. The chapter consists of a series of greetings, most of them to people whose names we can't even pronounce. No less than 28 members of the church in Rome are mentioned by name. Why? Perhaps Paul wanted to remind this group of Christians in a large city that they were not nameless faces -- they were part of God's family. We not only mean something to God, we mean something to one another. It's a "small town atmosphere" even in a "large city church."

"Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren who are with them. Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. Greet one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ greet you." (Rom. 16:14-16)

-alan smith