You can change the world!

9.30 am, Sunday 30 May 1999

I was intrigued to read in The Times last week that the Y2K panic is proving an unexpected boon for the Amish, as "survivalists" fearing a computer meltdown flock to emulate the machine-free life of the reclusive Protestant sect (The Times, 22 May 1999).

"Such old-fashioned products as gas refrigerators, butter churns, man-powered washing machines and hand-cranked apple peelers are flying off the shelves at stores that traditionally supply only the 40,000 Amish who live in and around Pennsylvania, and have always rejected the conveniences of modern life.

"Business threatens to overwhelm Lehman's Hardware and Appliances in Kidron, Ohio, which specialises in non-electric goods favoured by the Amish.

" ‘We’ve been selling water pumps for 40 years,’ said owner Jay Lehman. ‘But we would only sell 20 or 30 a year. Now we’re selling that many in a couple of weeks.’

"Mr Lehman has sold a dozen wood-burning stoves to a customer in sunny Hawaii. Another identified himself as a nuclear engineer from Kansas and said all his friends were selling their houses to move into the woods."

Fear of the unknown drives some people to extremes; it drives others to distraction. Jesus said to all who follow him, "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:19f).

That is God’s dream for his church! If you want to know the biblical purposes of the church, you will find them here in the Great Commission and in the Great Commandment of Matthew 22:36-40.

But fear of the unknown can destroy God’s dream for us and halt our God-given mission. Fatigue too can halt our mission: those who are exhausted or burned out find it hard to obey God.

Friends can also derail your God-given life purpose. Psalm 1:1 gives us clear advice: "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers." But hang out with the right people and you stand a good chance of changing the world.

Frivolity is another dream-crusher: you might be the life of the party, but if there’s no substance to your character, and you lack conviction in your life mission, your life will achieve little of lasting significance.

Finally, failure too can bring your part in God’s mission to a grinding halt. Personal moral failure disempowers you, reduces your effectiveness for God, and negatively impacts others (cf Achan in Joshua 7).

You can change the world, but it takes strategy and teamwork: God, you and other like-minded Christ-followers. Let me share three commitments you can make that will help you change the world, and three ways in which God comes alongside and does his part in reaching and discipling the nations through you.

Three commitments

1. A commitment to personal transformation. I’ve said you can change the world - but if you don’t, the world will change you. It takes patience, prayer, and perspiration to change the world, but do absolutely nothing and the world will change you anyway.

Before you can change the world you need personal transformation. Like Nicodemus, and Paul, and Augustine, and Luther, and Wesley, and Billy Graham, and Bill Hybels, and all of us, you need to be born again.

I saw a billboard advertising a Balmain fitness centre recently, with the slogan, "Guaranteed results or your old body back!"

If you’re a Christian, God himself is busy shaping your life to make you more like Jesus, and he guarantees the finished product! But you need to work with him. That’s what Paul says Romans 12:2: "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

As C.T. Studd said, "If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him."

2. A commitment to personal evangelism. You can change the world by sharing a verbal witness with a friend who is lost and outside God’s family. The kingdom of God is built one person at a time, and it takes single-minded focus, determination, and courage. But you can do it: you can share your faith.

In 1933 Charles Darrow invented a boardgame. Parker Brothers, who manufacture the game, originally rejected it due to "52 fundamental errors," including the fact that it took too long to play.

Disappointed but not defeated, Darrow made and marketed 5000 copies and the game became an instant success. Today the game is published in 26 languages, licenced in 80 countries, is available on CD ROM (and soon on Play Station). It sells over 150,000 copies a year in Australia alone, and an estimated 500 million people have played the game we know as Monopoly (Business Review Weekly, 28 May 1999).

If Charles Darrow had given up after his first rejection, imagine what he would have missed! Don’t give up sharing Christ with lost people just because it’s too hard, or you don’t know enough of them. God is counting on you.

3. A commitment to your local church. Neither the USA nor China is a true world superpower. The only real world superpower is the church. The local church is the hope of the world!

It has God’s Son at its head, it is inspired by the grandest vision in history, it has at its exclusive disposal all the power of God, it is the best way to experience genuine community, and it will last forever!

97% of the world has heard of Coca-Cola. 72% of the world has seen a can of Coke. 51% of the world has tasted a can of Coke. Coke has only been around 95 years (in 1999).

If God had given the task of world evangelisation to the Coca-Cola company it would probably be done by now. But he has given the task to the church, and the church has a long way to go. We are the church.

Three ways God does his part

1. You can change the world through knowing the purpose of God.

William Carey had to overcome great odds to obey the call of God. Even the Directors of the East India Company opposed his work. They presented this resolution to Parliament: "The sending out of missionaries into one Eastern possession is the maddest, most extravagant, most costly, most indefensible project which has ever been suggested by a moonstruck fanatic."

In 1796 the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland passed the following resolution: "To spread the knowledge of the gospel amongst barbarians and heathens seems to be highly preposterous." One speaker in the House of Commons said that he would rather see a band of devils let loose in India than a band of missionaries.

Such was the opposition to missions when Carey set forth. And yet he wrote, "Why is my soul disquieted within me? Things may turn out better than I expect. Everything is known to God, and God cares" (quoted in Daily Bread).

William Carey knew that God "works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will," and that "he is patient . . . not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (Ephesians 1:11; 2 Peter 3:9). Sharing God’s purpose, you can change the world.

2. You can change the world as you are encouraged by the presence of Christ "Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age," said Jesus (Matthew 28:20).

But what does that really mean? We have a glimpse of what it means in Acts 18, where Paul is in Corinth. Having been opposed and abused by the Jewish people in the city, he preaches exclusively to non-Jews, and many come to faith in Christ - including Crispus, the synagogue ruler!

Then Jesus spoke to Paul in a vision: "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city." The result was that Paul stayed there 18 months (Acts 18:9-11). Jesus is with you when you serve him with integrity and dedication.

3. You can change the world through being filled with the power of the Spirit (Zechariah 4:6; 1 Corinthians 2:4).

Over the triple doorways of the cathedral of Milan there are three inscriptions spanning the splendid arches. Over one is carved a beautiful wreath of roses, and underneath it is the legend, "All that which pleases is but for a moment."

Over the other is sculptured a cross, and there are the words, "All that which troubles us is but for a moment." But underneath the great central entrance to the main aisle is the inscription, "That only is important which is eternal."

Will you commit your life to changing the world for Jesus Christ?

Copyright © 1999 Rod Benson. All rights reserved. Sermon 244 presented at Blakehurst Baptist Church , Sydney, Australia, on Sunday 30 May 1999. Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: New International Version (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1980).