Changing the World

If there’s one thing people agree on, it’s that the world needs changing. Everybody’s for this. They fight over what the goal is, but almost no one likes the world the way it is.

Politics

Political leaders make changing the world their calling card. The system’s not treating you right so you need them to correct things for you. They’re problem solvers. At least that’s how politicians present themselves. COVID, climate, and the job market–it all has to change.

But what’s remarkable is that on average, between 90% to 98% of incumbents in Congress win reelection. So why aren’t they changing the world during their term? Why do congressional representatives have to get elected again to address matters they’d promised to solve the last time they ran? What’s blocking them? Do they not want to fix these issues?

Society

If politicians can’t or won’t change the world, we should look elsewhere. We can consider ourselves. After all, there are more citizens than politicians. Through sheer numbers, whole populations ought to be able to make some headway.

But we’re scattered. Unless we get organized, we won’t focus our attention or pool our resources. Recognizing this need, some have dedicated themselves to the task. For example, here’s the mission statement of one such group, Mobilisation Lab: “We envision an equitable, peaceful and sustainable world achieved by changemakers who continually integrate the best available strategies, tactics and tools into their campaigns.” This sounds promising. But it raises the question of who qualifies as a changemaker. Anyone who’s willing, or do you have to have a lot of money, influence, or social capital?

Mob Lab (that must be their nickname!) keeps an open mind. If enough people organize, powerful shifts and developments can occur. In an article titled, “10 Ways People Power Can Change the World,” they cover tactics varying from consumer pressure (like boycotts) to non-violent direct action (like work disruptions). People have employed such approaches for centuries, yet still the world’s suffering. Are society’s standards unrealistic, insisting on unattainable perfection? Or is something else at work?

Education

It could be we’re not trained well enough to analyze and correct large-scale problems. So we look to education. And why not? As Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” It seems like the right path!

American University, located in Washington, DC, agrees. In 2019, the school embarked on a 5 year plan called, “Changemakers for a Changing World.” AU acknowledges the various changes in society already taking place but wants to add “changemakers” into the mix. Why? The world doesn’t have enough change? It needs more? How much more? And doesn’t the educational system create as many problems as it purports to solve? Over a hundred years ago, Mark Twain warned folks, “don’t let your schooling get in the way of your education.”

The Kingdom of God

What combines and integrates leadership, training, and people in one glorious package? God’s kingdom, expressed in the church that functions as the body of Jesus Christ. The Lord summarizes all this in what we refer to as The Great Commission:

“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’” – Matthew 28:18-20

Raised from the dead, Jesus is now King of this world. But He wants to govern it through His followers. Christ appointed 11 leaders who spread the gospel and converted many to the way of the Lord. The apostles and the members of the early church were creating a new world, an alternative society concurrent with the existing one.

And the two don’t get along.

This situation invites blowback; the world assails anything that doesn’t fit in. So Jesus reminds His listeners of the importance of obedience. Stay the course; don’t let opposition derail you. 

When the Lord changes you by His grace, you’re motivated to see those around you receive the same blessing. The gospel’s for everyone, but as much as the people of this world clamor for change, they resist what Jesus offers.

One of the leaders of the early church, the apostle Peter, tried to help Christians deal with this reality.

“So, since Christ suffered in the flesh, you also arm yourselves with the same attitude, because the one who has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin, ²in that he spends the rest of his time on earth concerned about the will of God and not human desires. ³For the time that has passed was sufficient for you to do what the non-Christians desire. You lived then in debauchery, evil desires, drunkenness, carousing, drinking bouts, and wanton idolatries. ⁴So they are astonished when you do not rush with them into the same flood of wickedness, and they vilify you. ⁵They will face a reckoning before Jesus Christ who stands ready to judge the living and the dead.” – 1 Peter 4:1-5 (NET)

Everybody believes the world needs change, but that means other people, not me and my group. If you abandon your self-centered life and put Jesus first, you’re in trouble. That’s a change the world rejects.

Application

We Christians often remind ourselves that we’re in the world but not of the world. There’s biblical truth behind this thought. We live here on earth “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” (Philippians 3:20-21). Most of the changes the world wishes for concern natural, physical, and economic challenges. Jesus will usher the greatest transformation possible–the resurrection of our bodies when He returns to rule and restore this planet. That’s real change! 

We await the Second Coming of our Savior, but what else do we do in the meantime? Two simple actions–easy to say, tough to practice. We accept the truth that nothing of this world lasts. And we invest ourselves in the will of God.

“What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; ³⁰those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; ³¹those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.” – 1 Corinthians 7:29-31

“The world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains forever” (1 John 2:17) (NET).

Want to change this world? Lead people to Jesus. Build up the body of Christ, the church. And teach others the Words and Will of God.