When I was in college, John Mayer's song "Waiting on the World to Change" hit the airwaves. The song calls out all sorts of problems in the world and then the chorus line repeats, emanating from the mouth of the artist, "We keep on waiting, waiting for the world to change." It is a catchy tune with great music and lyrics that empower the listener to think self-gratifyingly, "Yeah! I am waiting on things to change, too!" (Perhaps it is worth pointing out that John Mayer now literally is waiting on the world to change from Montana, just like yours truly!) The song captures a sentiment that I think many people have been feeling for a long time - exasperation. Many of us are exasperated that things just do not seem get any better in our country or the world at large. So, like John Mayer, we are stuck waiting, waiting on the world to change.
Nevertheless, no matter how exasperated we may get over the age we live in, God perpetually calls us to be the good in the world. We are not to idle in the face of challenges and injustice, but instead are compelled to actively engage and support one another, no matter how difficult or how costly. At the end of the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus asked the lawyer who had come to him which of the three men in the parable was a neighbor to the victim in the story - the two Judeans who left him to die, or the Samaritan who stopped and aided then man in need. The lawyer responded, "The one who showed him mercy." At this, Jesus responded, "Go and do likewise" (Luke 10:37). Go and do likewise. These words are haunting, but convicting. Do not wait for the world to change, but, instead, become the change that the world needs. Don't wait. Go, and be like the Good Samaritan who showed mercy where there was none. Go and be the change that God is calling you to be.
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AuthorRev. Seth Nelson, author of The Church Unknown: Reflections of a Millennial Pastor, writes this blog. The blog focuses on the future of the church as well as how God loves and cares for us in the present. He is a pastor in Ronan, Montana. Categories
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January 2023
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