That's How You Change the World

I really love the song That’s How You Change The World by Newsboys. Listen to it. Do you believe that we can actually change the world?

“the smallest spark” absolutely! Jesus was one person. The disciples were 12 people and it’s not like they were kings or anyone important. What’s stopping you from making sparks?

“It won’t change anything” “It’s such a small thing” “It’s too much work” “I don’t have the position to be able to do that” - those are some things we might say. If you have an idea, run with it! If you don’t try, it definitely won’t happen, but if you do try, you might be surprised to see what can happen.

“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”

— Steve Jobs

Obviously, just trying to change the world doesn’t guarantee that you will. But not trying at all guarantees that you will not change the world if that makes sense.

I believe Jesus wants us to change the world. Let’s define what I mean by “change the world”. I don’t mean creating a nationwide movement or anything that crazy, though some of us will. I mean bringing one person to Christ or starting a weekly prayer group. Even little things like that are world-changing and likely something you can do.

Or even work towards larger things. As an example, I am trying to start some quarterly worship and prayer nights for youth in my area. I’ve been doing worship at my youth group for a little bit but I’m not an expert at worship or at prayer. I don’t need to be an expert and this event doesn’t need to be perfect; it needs to be for Jesus. I’ve also been asking people for help, it’s not something I can do alone. People are often willing to help, you just need to ask.

The worship night was a random idea I had one night while talking to my mom. We thought it was ambitious, but we also thought “why couldn’t it happen?” So I started talking to people and trying it. “Trying it”, that’s what we need to do. If you don’t give an idea a chance then it dies as an idea. Even if you have to light 20 sparks till one catches fire. Is that not worth it? We should be biased towards trying new things, even if they seem a little crazy.

I think that sometimes we feel like a servant to our environment, that it defines us. We let things happen to us, but we stop believing that we can affect the environment. I can’t think of a good way to explain it. It’s like saying “it’s just how it is”. But we aren’t a servant to our environment, instead we are a servant to Jesus. We need to think about how to further His kingdom; not just react to our environment.

One last topic I want to address is the excuse of being too busy. Sometimes it’s true that you’re at your limit, but I think it’s important to think about what is making you busy. Examine your past week, what are you spending your time on? Really think about it. Also, remember that being busy isn’t just something that happens to you, even though it can feel like it: you do have control over a lot of your life.

Lastly, I want to point out a few more lyrics of the song.

A million encouraging words. A million prayer groups. A million voices sharing the gospel. A million selfless actions. A million people living totally for Christ.

Encourage others to also change the world. If you convince two other people to change the world and they each convince two more people who convince two more etc. If that happens twenty times, a million people will have been convinced to change the world.

Let’s go the extra mile for Christ! Let’s give everything we have! Let’s surrender our lives and make Him first!

How are you going to change the world? (I’m serious)