How Can Christians Change the World?

Everyone wants to change the world.

This world we live in now is filled with pain, misery and anguish. 

We see it every time we turn on the news, with images ranging from war-torn countries, where innocents are killed every day, to senseless acts of injustice that take place far closer to home than we would like.

It feels as though the world is darting from one tragedy to the next, from one injustice to another—and it makes us angry. 

Moral people naturally abhor the evil actions that take place in the world daily. A flurry of social media posts blows up the Internet as people hurry to make their statements. Immediately, debates rage about what to do next, who is in the right and who is in the wrong.

Despite these debates, it seems nothing ever changes. No matter what humans do, the world just keeps getting worse. It can be incredibly disheartening. 

You can’t change the world

It isn’t wrong to want to make a difference in the world. The world we live in is evil, wretched and filled with sin. And when Christians truly have an opportunity to help those who are suffering, it is their responsibility to do so (Galatians 6:10).

But some problems are too big to fix at this time.

To illustrate the scope of mankind’s problems, consider the grim diagnosis Jesus gave in Matthew 24. He revealed that in the last days, “lawlessness will abound” and “the love of many will grow cold” (verse 12). 

The world will get so bad that, without miraculous intervention, humanity would wipe itself out completely (verse 22).

This world will continue to grow in corruption, depravity, violence and sin until Jesus Christ’s long-awaited return. No amount of activism or anything we can personally do will change it.

(For more information on why our world is unfixable, read “Beyond Repair: 3 Things Too Broken for Us to Fix.”)

Therefore, in a world filled with the cries of the weak and the innocent, Christians must face a heartbreaking reality that may conflict with our deepest inclinations: we can’t change this world.

It isn’t God’s purpose to fix the world right now

It hurts to watch the frequent injustices of the world. It hurts to feel helpless to stop any of it. However, Christians need to understand that God isn’t trying to fix this world right now.

The world, for now, is being influenced by Satan, whom the Bible calls “the god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4; Revelation 12:9). The steady decline that we see in the world is a direct result of Satan’s negative influence on humanity. For the time being, God is allowing humans to run the world their way, under Satan’s sway (Romans 1:28-32).

Because of these things, the present world is passing away. 

Christians belong to the world yet to come, not to the present evil age. We can, and should, be concerned about the injustices of the world.

As Ezekiel 9:4 says, God’s people rightfully “sigh and cry” over the abominations that take place around us.

But these situations shouldn’t be our primary focus. We know that the present world is passing away (1 John 2:15-17) and that the new one will be free of the injustice and tragedy that we see today.

Like the heroes of faith, we recognize that we’re only “strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13).

However, this truth doesn’t stop all the pain. We know that God will step in to end suffering in the future, but what can we do about the constant evil permeating the world today?

If Christians can’t change the world now, then what can we do?

Christians are called to change their world

Yes, there are things—many things—that are outside of our control. Even so, we can control ourselves.

We recognize that sin is the root cause of the world’s problems and that it also exists inside each and every one of us. 

We must tackle and overcome our sins. The changes we make in ourselves are just smaller versions of the changes the entire world will learn to make after Christ’s return.

What does that ideal look like?

We also pray for God’s help in overcoming our weaknesses. God will eventually help the entire world overcome its many weaknesses.

When we change our lives, we move away from the evil influence of Satan and toward the righteousness of God. As we change, we begin to display the characteristics we wish to see in the rest of the world: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

This doesn’t mean that we are helpless to aid those who suffer in the world. In fact, living a godly way of life should lead us to help those who are in our sphere of influence. We know that showing love to others is among the most important Christian attributes, so we do all we can to help where we can.

Jesus modeled this perfectly in His life. He didn’t try to fix the society He lived in, but He did help individuals when He had the opportunity. 

Christians also should do good and help others when they have an opportunity, but they should be careful not to view activism as a solution to the world’s problems. 

(For more on the pitfalls of a Christian getting engaged in political activism, read our blog post “Is Political Activism the Solution to Spiritual Decline?”)

We must remember that this world can’t be saved by human beings. It is passing away and all its evil with it. God is the One who will finally save the world and bring solutions that work. 

Change your world

We can’t change the world’s trajectory; it’s simply beyond our control. While it is good and proper to do whatever we can to help those around us who are in need, we must not become fixated on the things that we cannot change.

With God’s help, we can change our own hearts, minds and actions. We can change our own lives. We can set an example for the world around us, even if the effects will not be immediate. We can focus on the things that are in our power.

Make no mistake: change will come, and we have a responsibility to prepare ourselves for that day now. But it won’t be the result of any human intervention. 

Change yourself—and let God change the world.

Date Posted: November 4, 2024