How To Bring Change To The World Series

How to Bring change to the world

It’s easy - let’s see now (jingle coins) 5 cents, 10 cents… not pocket change. Obvious, I’m not talking about that!

Ephesians 4:1-16

A. Intro: The World - examples of problems

Plastered in front page of our great city newspaper on Wed. were four faces. These four faces are now almost universally recognized. In fact est. an astounding 54 million tv viewers tuned in to see these four. Of course you know I am speaking of the summer tv hit game show Survivor. It is interesting that the participants say what was seen on tv about their character, is quite accurate. And then, one of them offered this explanation: they are not evil, just play evil characters.

Not evil who are they trying to kid? After the fact, and when asked about friendships, it is clear that none of them will go to each other to become life-long friends. I have to confess, I watched the last episode, only one I watched, but the impression I got was, people are willing, or to use their words form alliances, and “strategize” which are just politically correct words for scheming, conning, lying, back-stabbing, verbal abuse and other unethical, do anything, and cut each other’s throats to get the one million prize. The one that played the dirtiest won. What a great message? The world is dirty then Play dirty, it is to your advantage. It’s ugly. What a messy world!

This is further impressed on me when one recent study ask question how many would choose to stay home one more hour or to make more money. Option of overwhelming majority is make more money. In US partial birth abortion is beginning to take hold in some states, unimaginable that viable healthy babies within seconds of being born can be ushered in to a grave instead of a cradle.

Human life is no longer valued. While you may get a prison term if you chop down a tree, but to kill a baby no one cares.

Visiting a friend of mine in Silicon Valley, CA, he said that he worked at one company, and left after 6 months, cause as a Christian he couldn’t stand the cut-throat environment and the office politics. He asked a fellow worker why she is still there, knowing how bad it was - “I’m just greedy.” Everyone there seems geared to put each other down, in order to get promoted in a very fast-pace growing company. After 6 months, he quit to join a smaller firm, when everyone else wants to join the company he left.

In a movie called Mickey Blue Eyes, an unsuspecting auctioneer romances a mafia gangster’s daughter, when he proposed to her, he was suddenly introduced to this gal’s crime family and before you know, Uncle Vito does him a favor, as he naively received it, he is ask to a favor in return, which led to money laundering through the auction company he works for, things got bigger and eventually led to murder, which was furthest thing on his mind, more than he bargained for when he dated his school teacher girlfriend.

Can you see how this world operates? The key word seems to be self-preservation. and everyone else be damned. Isn’t it true that the principle of surviving this world get what you can out of it, step on people if necessary, look out for yourself, no one cares. And then folks wonder, why is there so much hatred, revenge, war, pride, crime, so many broken lives, shattered dreams, hearts that are filled with sorrow… In a world where grieving relatives of the doomed Kursk submarine, crying out for answers, the answer given to them in their grief is a tranquilizer shot. What can be done?

How can this world be a better place? If there is a way? What can we do to change the world?

Is the answer, … let’s turn this country into a Christian country, or vote for Stockwell Day in next federal elections… elect a Christian to power…

In many church sponsored conferences these days, numbers are being tabulated and thrown out, people getting excited as the results of people coming to Christ seem to increase. But in one of those conferences, a little African lady delegate headed to the platform and she spoke with her face showing obvious signs of sorrow:

“I am from the country that has been considered by many of you to be the greatest example of success in world missions. Told of church planted over a century ago and how today 85% of the people call themselves Christians. Much of the growth came from evangelical and Pentecostal churches, which exceed 25% of the total. Excitement grew in the hall as she described high interest in Bible study and prayer.