You're Not Going to Change the World - Part 1

We all want to change the world. As Christians, specifically, for Jesus. We think that's what missions does. We think that we can go to another place or another country and build a house, then tell people about Jesus. And we'll save them just like that. We think that they will see the love for Jesus in our hearts, and in response, they'll want it too. We'll save them, give them hope, and change their life. It doesn't matter if we don't speak their language, it doesn't matter if we've only known them for a week, and it doesn't matter if we never see them again.

This is the mindset of modern short-term missions. I'm not against missions, and I'm not even against short-term missions. But we have to improve this system if we want to continue with it. Nowadays, everyone goes on that one or two week trip to somewhere. Maybe Haiti, maybe Guatemala, maybe Africa, or maybe just a poverty-stricken area in urban America. You come back home and tell everyone of the difference you made. You built a house, or you held a VBS and brought Christ to people. You made a big impact on their lives; so big that they will forever be changed, and so will you.

But you know what? We don't bring Christ to people. He's already there. He's already at work, and has been since the beginning of time. Sure, He can work through you, but He's still the Savior. In comparison to the rest of the world, if you make more than $2 per day, you are wealthy. And that thought inflates us. We think we can save people and tell them how to live their lives, just because our lives are easier, or because we have more money. We don't consciously think about this, but we do this by the way we approach missions, especially short-term.

We're not going to save the world, because He already did. And we're not going to change the world, because He already did. As John 16:33 puts it, He has "already overcome the world." Christ changed the world when He died on the cross for all of our sins. Not just the wealthy's sins, so they could save the poor. Not just certain people's sins. For everyone. He sees each one of us as equal, no matter what brand of clothing we wear, how many cars we have, where we went to college, or how much money we have. He doesn't care if you're the President, a CEO, or a poor woman dying of cancer out in a small village in some foreign country. He loves us all the same, and sees us all the same. We're not meant to go out and save each other. He has already done that. We are called to grow in relationships, and help strengthen each other. We are called to share the word of God, not to call it ours.

You're not going to change the world. Jesus Christ will. He already has, is, and will continue to. Let's not keep taking the credit. Let's stop trying to be the saviors of the world. Because God already is.