Why We Need to Quit Trying to Save the World

Can we stop trying to change the world?

 

Listen close, for just a second.

 

I say: The world doesn’t need fixing, because it’s already been done.

 

I don’t mean the world’s perfect. I don’t mean the world’s not broken – just look around, steady your eyes on a little slice of the pain and you’ll be convinced in an instant that something’s sorely wrong, sucked nearly dry of hope.

 

But there is something greater than the brokenness that we see – something higher, bigger, more powerful than the messes we create for ourselves.

There is a peace we can find when we let go of ourselves and embrace the cross of Christ. There is Someone greater that longs for us to lift our eyes above and see what He has done. There is a joy we can find in the midst of our trials, in the midst of our messed-up world.

 

This world can’t be fixed by us.

 

It’s absolutely, one hundred percent impossible to restore the world to the glory of Eden.

 

Firstly, because we are incapable of doing so, but secondly, because we are looking ahead to our Eternal Home. This world, the pain and struggle we feel day after day – it all will be made new one day, because of what Christ has done for us.

 

As we crave restoration, let us seek restoration for souls.

 

As we crave freedom, let us seek true freedom in Christ.

 

As we crave hope for our world, let us look to the hope that we have now in our hearts, and the absolute assurance we have that one day, all will be made new.

 

As we crave peace and joy and love among the entire world, let us look to the ultimate fulfillment we can have of these things – in a relationship with Christ alone.

 

It might sound quite pessimistic to say all these things, to say there’s not hope to fix what’s right in front of us, to say it’s not worth trying to make a difference – and yet — a difference can happen.

 

If you want to change the world, start right here. Bring hope to those around you, love until your heart breaks, bring the light of Christ to the people in the world that need it.

 

We say we want redemption, and yet we forget that we already have it.

 

We can find beauty in the pain by the promise of our eternity – the peace of God that fills our hearts even in the hardest of times – we can find abundance of joy even when we find ourselves surrounded by poverty.

 

And while we’re here, we can do our best to bring pieces of relief to the souls around us, instead of trying to simply repair the sin-infested, anguish-filled planet we’re here on.

 

The world has already been redeemed, and to try and mend it is to put Band-Aids on a broken leg. We’re looking at a very nice solution…but it’s for the wrong problem.

 

Souls are what need redeeming, not this shattered realm. One day, it will be restored, and we need to see the world in that light.

 

Restoration is coming. It has been promised through Christ.

 

And…it’s okay if we don’t try to change the world.

 

Because it’s so much more important to let change happen in the small things. To let hope bleed into our tiny little lives and those surrounding ours.

 

Maybe we can’t change the world…but we can make an impact.

 

We can point the world to Real Hope.