I CANNOT SAVE THE WORLD

This. Is. Me.

Could that be a mullet?  Maybe.  I admit nothing.

Growing up, I was THAT KID.  You know, the one that led No-Littering Marches across the playground, spent her lunch money on Save The Whales t-shirts, and donated her entire life savings ($4.85) to her cousin’s missionary trip to Hungary and Romania.  (Don’t worry, folks; I didn't send myself into destitution.   My uncle was so touched by my gift that he gave me $20, which I used to start the Send-Becky-To-Math-Camp-Fund.  Go ahead.  Read that sentence again.  You didn't make a mistake.  It says MATH camp.) 

Anyways—if there was a cause, I was at the center of it, busting my tail and doing everything in my power to “make a difference” and “save the world.” 

What a joke.

No one can save the world. 

And the truth is, I wasn’t made to save the world.  If I had that power, God wouldn’t have needed to send his one and only Son, Jesus, to do it.

The Bible is very clear that saving the world is HIS job: 

John 3:16:  For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Psalm 27:1:  The Lord is my light and my salvation—so why should I be afraid?  The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?

Acts 4:11-12:   For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, “The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.”  There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.

So if that’s true, then why do I try to save the world?

Pride.

Arrogance. 

Because I think I’m good enough. 

But I’m not. 

Romans 3:23:   For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

Romans 5:8:  But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

1 Timothy 1:15:  This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all.

See?

When I try to save the world, several things happen. 

#1:  I forget my own need for God.  I become judgmental of others and start to focus on their sins, completely ignoring the fact that mine are vast and ugly as well.  I also see myself as the answer instead of God, and as a result, I neglect my Heavenly Father, who is, indeed, everything. 

#2:  I get weary.  The world is SO, SO big, and I am SO, SO, small.  I do not have what it takes, not the money, not the time, not the resources, not even the compassion to help every single person on earth who “needs my help.” 

#3:  I get angry.  I don’t understand, with all the work and effort I’m putting into saving the world, why things aren’t getting any better!  I question why God isn’t fixing things the way I want Him to!  But God is not on his throne in Heaven to do my bidding; in fact, it’s quite the opposite. 

When I was in college, all Freshmen had to take a class called World Changers.  It was this cliché that was thrown around campus so much that it turned into a big joke. 

And we were kind of right. 

Being a World Changer is a big joke. 

It’s like a cup thinking it can cure dehydration. 

Or a scalpel thinking that, all by itself, it can perform life saving surgery. 

Cups and scalpels are tools used by people to perform jobs.  They do not heal bodies.  They do not quench thirst. 

We are tools of Christ, used to do His bidding, used to spread His saving power and life changing grace.

We are cups and scalpels, not water and surgeons. 

So as a tool of Christ, the World Changer, what am I to do?

He gives me His instructions in Matthew 28:19-20:  “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

So it is my job to take Him to the ends of the earth so that He can save the world. 

When I realize this, that I am a tool of the World Changer, I find three tings to be true. 

#1.  I am not proud anymore.  To take Christ to others means that I must allow His light to shine through all my flaws, illuminating them as well as God’s grace and mercy and forgiveness and saving power.  Take Rahab, for example.  Though a changed woman, she will always be known as “the harlot.”  Talk about humility.  And talk about a shining light of God’s grace. 

#2.  I am refreshed.  It’s like playing football in the backyard of great-grandma Witter’s house when cousin Andy shows up and joins your team.  You can be losing by 20 touchdowns, but it’s okay because once he’s in the game, just snap the ball and hand off to him.  He’ll carry it to the end zone every time—with the whole opposing team on his back—because no one can tackle him.  That’s God.  He is unbeatable.  And YOU get to be on HIS team, if you humble your heart, turn from your sins, pick up your cross, and follow Him.  (A paraphrase of Luke 9:23)  

Yes, there is a cross.  A burden.  But it’s so much lighter than the sinful one we choose to carry around.  Here’s proof:  

Matthew 11:28-30:  Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

#3.  And finally…I’m not angry anymore.  Instead, I am filled with thankfulness when I realize that the God of the universe would use me to spread His world-changing message of eternal salvation and freedom from sin.  If there is still anger, it is not at God.  It is righteous anger, at those who profane the message of God and pervert it into something that defies His character and goodness.  And anger is (or should be) defined as this:  passion that motivates you to change something for the better.  Most the time, that change is something that must take place in my own heart—not someone else’s. 

I think, sometimes, in the adoption circles, people struggle with the idea of “Saving the World” because they’re continuously told things like what I myself have said to my adoptive parent friends: 

“You’re my hero!”

“You’re so brave!”

“I could never do what you are doing!”

And the truth is, while those words are nice to hear, they also come with expectations.  We as adoptive parents need to be brave heroes who do what no one else can do!  You begin to feel as though you are the only saving grace for these hurting children.  But even if you adopted 150 of them, there would still be more.  And that realization is enough to cripple even the bravest hero. 

I think, in order to be used by the one and only World Saver, we need to make it clear that we’re all “harlots” in our own ways.  We need people to understand that we are totally incapable of doing what we’ve been called to do—that surrendering to God in this is just as much about us being saved as it is the children we see as so desperately in need.  

We need to understand that, in God’s eyes, we’re all so desperately in need. 

Only then will others begin to understand that they don’t have to be a world changer or difference maker in order to follow God’s call to care for orphans.  They only have to be an empty cup.  A willing scalpel. 

God will do the rest. 

And when we all really get that, we’ll throw our capes and crowns at God’s feet, step back, and watch Him save the world. 

John 3:16-17:  For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.  God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.