How To Become Change Agents In A Broken World? Love Is The Answer

How To Become Change Agents In A Broken World? Love Is The Answer

It may seem that the world is too broken to be repaired, but going back into Scripture, one is reminded of that single, most powerful antidote - love.

This day and age is a confusing time to live, heartbreaking even, with the biblical truth being pushed farther and farther aside until people forget what God really said, commanded, and asked of us to do - to love God and to love others.

Jesus, in Mark 12:30-31, when asked what is the greatest commandment, clearly and directly answered, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

Yet how can we do what Jesus is saying when our post-Christian culture is on the brink of biblical immorality? Kids have never been so exposed to LGBTQ and the complicated gender identification and transitioning issues. As Christian Headlines presented, people are applauding and following Chris Evans's advice on how to treat those who raised their concerns about the controversial lesbian relationship and kiss in his upcoming movie, "Lightyear". He said, "the goal is to pay them no mind, march forward and embrace the growth that makes us human."

Disney, who is the creator of the said movie, has also launched an LGBTQ clothing line for children while CNN has promoted an LGBTQ summer reading for kids and teens. Schools have staged celebrations for Pride Month and a drag queen story hour.

Abortions are on the rise in America, attacks on religious liberty continue, and even churches have been highlighted for sexual and financial scandals.

Just recently, a Gallup poll revealed that the number of Americans believing in God has plunged to a new low of 81% from 92% a decade ago.

Jim Denison, Ph.D., author, speaker, and CEO of Denison Ministries, couldn't have said it more honestly and correctly, "Our rejection of biblical morality is a symptom of our broader rejection of biblical truth."

Giving Up On God, Others Is Not An Option

Denison went on to emphasize that the brokenness of the world is not a reason for the believers to lose sight and give up on God and on the nation. It is actually a reason to cling more tightly, to pray even harder, and to ask for a deeper faith, a flowing grace, and a living hope, because if they give up, how then can Christians still be available for God and others? How still can Christians become agents of change and heal the world?

"Being change agents in a broken world requires more than a willingness to be used by God-it requires loving those we are called to serve," he exclaimed. 

Paul knew exactly how to do this. In his letter to the Romans, he expressed his deep anguish for his brothers and sisters who have been rejecting their Messiah, "O Israel, my people! O my Jewish brothers! How I long for you to come to Christ. My heart is heavy within me, and I grieve bitterly day and night because of you. Christ knows and the Holy Spirit knows that it is no mere pretense when I say that I would be willing to be forever damned if that would save you." (Romans 9:3)

This is the kind of compassion God is asking from His believers. A deep, unconditional love that can only be received and learned from Jesus - the One who "had compassion" on those He served as written in Matthew 14:14, the Shepherd who never thought twice to leave the ninety-nine for that one lost soul as written in Luke 15:3-7, and the Savior who shared the table with tax collectors and prostitutes and sinners declaring, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners," in Mark 2:17.

Also Read: Diversity In Church Is Not A Virtue, But Christ-like Love For All Is

Holy Spirit, The Love Enabler

When Jesus gave the command to love God and to love others, He said that knowing it is possible to do. He has two reasons: first, He was able to do it, and second, He enabled His followers to do it through the Holy Spirit. Jesus' kind of love is a fruit of the Spirit as stated in Galatians 5:22-23, gifted to every Christian who accepts Him and is filled by Him as narrated in Ephesians 5:15-20.

Denison boldly calls out to the believers of God with a challenge, "If our response to Chris Evans's ridiculing of biblical Christians was anything less than loving grief for his soul, we need to be "filled" with the Spirit. If we could read about the falling rate of belief in God and the rising rate of abortion without pain in our spirit for our nation, we need to be "filled" with the Spirit."

John Piper said that being filled with the Spirit basically means having great joy in God and Nehemiah 8:10 stated that "the joy of the Lord is our strength", implying that to be filled with the Spirit also means that there will be power in this joy for every Christian to overcome sin, to be bold witnesses, and most of all, to love God and the people "we are called to serve".

The world is too broken, yes, and only the love of Jesus can glue all its stained pieces together and make it whole again. Bring Jesus' love into the world. Be an agent of change. Do not lose hope because love never fails, it endures. (1 Corinthians 13:6-8)  As Ernest Angley wrote, it is the answer for everything as it turns hope into a miracle reality.

"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another," Jesus proclaimed.

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