Why I Want to Change the World

A couple of years ago I felt really impressed (by God, I think) that I was supposed to change the world. Right away I dismissed the thought. It is foolishness for one person to change the world. After all, I am only an ordinary pastor of two tiny churches in an out of the way part of a relatively small state in a denomination that seems to be beyond its prime. What could I do? What can one person do to change the world? Or, for that matter, can the world be changed? Does the world need to be changed? And how do we know how to change it?

Before I got too discouraged about this problem, I thought about it. I considered whether or not the world could be different. I thought about how much influence I might be able to have. I wondered how best to move toward improving the world. And that’s when it hit me, I can’t do everything, but I could do something. In fact, if everyone did something we could change the world, for the better, in short order.

So I made a decision that the world could be changed and that I should do something about it. Here is what I am doing (and what you should be doing too?):

• I am being intentional about being a better person. I will be kinder and more thoughtful in my relationships with all people.
• I am thinking about the effects that my actions and decisions have on other people. Remember George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life? He learned that even insignificant things can have great consequences. The same is true for all of us. Not only that, we are being reminded every day that our decisions not only effect other people, but also our world and the people who will inhabit it in the future.
• I am trying to remember every day and all the time that God loves all people. Every person is an individual for whom Jesus died. I need to love them as such and share my faith with them.
• I am working toward becoming an outward-focused Christian. That is, everything in my life is not always about me. I should be living completely for God, and therefore for other people.
• I am attempting to be more generous. This includes sharing my time (I have less of it for myself than ever before), my energy (I am constantly looking for ways to serve), and my resources. It is amazing the places that you can share if you are open to it.
  

I have no illusions that I will someday be remembered as a great evangelist, missionary or world-changer. I am still just a normal guy. But hey, if all us normal guys would get together and work for the cause of Christ, the world would get changed, for the better.