If the horse were leading the cart, it wouldn't slam into trees.
Christianese language and attitudes can be very baffling. I was raised in church my entire life and have heard so many awe inspiring and motivational talks, mostly surrounding being a "World changer" or a "Warrior" for Christ. It can get you hyped up and ready to take on the world with the power of Christ in your right hand and the vengeance of past hurt in your left. But does anyone ask themselves whether or not God is calling them to be a world changer? He told the disciples to be fishers of men and to go and make disciples of all nations. These were to be the people that started the entire church. Normal, average guys like us were used to change the world. This is one of the most wonderful aspects of God...that He uses who He will use.
What kind of attitude are we in danger of having?
Mark 10:35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” 36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. 37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” 38 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” 39 “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
Too many people have been filled with pride trying to change the world. It is easy to do. We get a few things accomplished and set our goals high, so it is a natural (sinful) thing to do...to consider yourself as good. Except Romans tells us no one is good, not even one. People go off to seminary or devote themselves to studying God's Word, but completely forget about the foundation that faith is based off of in the first place. Maybe God isn't asking us to be world changers, maybe that is a product of what happens when we aspire to be day changers. I cannot impact this world right away without becoming infamous. I can impact it the way Mother Theresa has chosen to. She has never aspired to change the world, but to change the conditions in the area surrounding her. We should aspire to change the day for the people at the water cooler and the ones holding out cups for change.
You simply cannot positively change the world with anything you say. It will always take long suffering actions. I think in the passage above, the disciples were guilty as you and I have been of thinking too highly of themselves and forgetting the point of what we are trying to accomplish in the first place. Jesus wasn't prescribing them to change the world in a single swoop. He used the work of fishing as his illustration. Fishing takes patience, silence, and purposeful luring. So does fishing for people. If you want to see Christ reign in the lost around you, we must be patient and long suffering, prayerful and purposeful. We must love the way Christ loves us. This is the very base of Christianity. Read every book about faith and religious history, but it will mean nothing if you aren't actively and purposefully acting out love in your every day life.
A day changer can very easily become a life changer which can very easily become a world changer. But love (Jesus) has to lead.
Photo credit to:http://dippedfeather.deviantart.com
Sing.
Migrate.
Thanks for reading...Z
