How to Change the World in Three Easy Steps: Introduction
Does this scene sound familiar:
It’s 11.30ish; you’ve been drinking some nice wine, and have had a thoroughly good time chatting with good friends, putting the world to rights. Or, in my case it’s more like 2 am, the wine isn’t that nice (but by 2am I don’t really care) and I’d never met the people I’m with before 8 or 9 that evening (but after half a bottle of wine I think they’re great!). The conversation could be about a large number of different things, the tax system, European politics, trade laws, house prices. The conversation inevitably ends up containing the words ‘If it were up to me it would be like this…’
Maybe you don’t find yourself in this situation very often, that doesn’t change the fact that we all see things happening in this world that fundamentally irritate us, and we want to see change, whether it’s something political, something in church, or something in our community. We all see things that we would love to be able to change.
The thing is that so often it stops there. So often we get irritated and frustrated about things, so we moan about them rather than do something. But God doesn’t want us to moan. He wants us to do something. In Mathew 5 we are called to be the ‘Salt of the Earth’. That means that we are to be the seasoning, we are to be the preservatives that makes this world taste a little better. In biblical times salt was used as a preserving agent to keep dead bodies ‘fresh’ until the time for burial came.
Our world, if you like, is a dead body awaiting burial. If you don’t believe me, look around it. People are dying of starvation in one half of this world, whilst in the other half people are dying from obesity. There are people dying of diseases in Africa, when the West has had the cure for decades. There are churches all around the Western world with empty seats, closing their doors because they have no congregation. Debt is crippling people. The news is full of terrorism, war, people trafficking, and prostitution. Make no mistake, we are living in a fallen world that is dying.
If we take our faith seriously, and we take Jesus’ commands seriously, then we will feel compelled to do something, to make a difference. At this point you may well be thinking that in a world of 6 billion people, why on earth do I think that you can change anything?
I’ve titled this series ‘How to change the world in 3 easy steps’, because I think that I have identified 3 things which if every Christian did would have a profound effect on this county and this world. In my next article I will explain the first one of these, but in the meantime let me encourage you to believe that you can change the world.
Which of the following mindsets are you?
Mindset number 1: ‘I’m too young to change the world’
If this is you then you would be too naive to know it, and would try anyway (this is what the Prime Minister told William Wilberforce when they were discussing politics)
Mindset number 2: ‘I’m too old to change the world’
No one is too old. Too frail to travel, maybe. Too senile to think straight, perhaps. But age isn’t a limiting factor in itself.
Mindset number 3: ‘I’m just the right age to make a difference’
If this is you, keep reading, and keep doing!
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