Changing the World

“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5 NIV)

“Go big or go home” is a saying of more recent vintage and reflects our culture’s predisposition with doing things that are recognized as significant.  Doing little things is not really worth the time.  Doing big things is what we need to aim for.  “You can change the world” is the mantra.  So we aim big.  Hashtag campaigns to end sex trafficking or a video about body image that will go viral.  Acquiring a job that will have significant world impact.  

Or, we do nothing, or next to nothing because what we can do, or think we can do, is not big or at the change-the-world level, so it’s not worth our time or effort.  As a result, we can walk through life believing we are failures because we should have done so much more.  

What we need to realize is the significance of our lives is not found in our accomplishments, but in our faithfulness to the Lord.  Apart from Him, nothing we do truly matters.  The only true world-changer is Jesus. And the only way we will really impact the world in a lasting way is by first being faithful to Him.  

But we often get suckered by the world to aim for its standard of accomplishment—doing something that is big and gains much attention, and doing it on our own.  Many have tried and many have succeeded in their own eyes, and perhaps even in the eyes of the world.  But Jesus says if it was done apart from Him, it was nothing of any true significance.  What He is interested in is our daily faithfulness to Him. The rest, He says, will happen naturally because He will be working through us. 

Today, if you want to be a part of changing the world, then spend more and more time getting to know the only true world-changer. The reality is, apart from Him there is no hope of truly changing anything.  

© Jim Musser 2015