[Listen to an audio version here]
Christians today look at the world and are anxious about it. The world seems to be becoming more and more hostile to our faith. Our values seem to be under assault.
In addition, things are changing so fast. The past year has accelerated so many trends that were already underway. Power is shifting throughout the world.
What are we to do about it? Most people are afraid to even bring up these topics with their neighbors. We often look out on the world as if we just have to watch it with a sense of foreboding and doom. What are we to do?
Matthew West captured this sentiment well in a song that he wrote a few years ago.
Well, I just couldn’t bear the thought of
People living in poverty
Children sold into slavery
The thought disgusted me
So, I shook my fist at Heaven
Said, “God, why don’t You do something?”He said, “I did, I created you”
That song was called, “Do Something.”
We are not called to sit passively back and let the world slide into destruction. God calls us in this text to get involved in changing the world. Particularly, He wants us to make disciples of all nations.
The Presence
Now, that seems daunting. Who are we to do something about the big problems in the world? You might say, “I’m scared even to talk to my neighbor about Jesus.” You might say, “I have a hard time even talking to people at all.” You might say, “I’m young and can’t do anything.”
I’ll never forget a conversation I had a few years ago with a man in our church. He felt like he should be a deacon, but he was scared. He didn’t think he could do it.
So, I asked him, “Do you know what God always says when He calls people to do something?”
“Get going?” He responded.
“No,” I replied. “He says, ‘I will be with you.'”