anonymous love

It really doesn’t take much to change the world if you think about it. One bite of a forbidden fruit, one invention of a light bulb or printing press, one electoral vote, one proclamation of emancipation, one women refusing to give up her bus seat, one wall being torn down, one iron curtain, one magic bullet, one dead Jewish Messiah, and one empty grave.

I think too often we see the world changing by one person making monumental decisions during a monumental time. It is easy to think of Gandhi, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. We often desire to be people in similar situations hoping that we make the right decision in crucial times. I think it is too easy to want our names written down in the history books. However, the reason our world has become so stagnant and resistant to positive change is because we are too busy fighting over the recognition and power instead of actually working on change.

On the night Jesus was betrayed by Judas and handed over to be killed in Luke 22, he had his last meal with his disciples. After telling the disciples what must happen to him that very night, they began fighting over who is the greatest. Imagine Jesus’ heart. He had spent 3 years with the 12, he is about to lay down his life, and they are arguing about their own self-importance. Jesus responds by reminding his disciples what he has taught them before,

The greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. – Luke 22:26

The way to change the world is not by gaining power and demanding people to do your will. While that may give you power, that doesn’t change the world which is already full of self imposed messiahs and tyrants.

To change the world it starts by becoming part of a small movement, a movement that starts with small acts of love. The hope is not for you to gain fame and notoriety and then cause transformation of global or national events. The hope is to be an anonymous servant sharing love alongside thousands of other anonymous servants. The hope is for a growing movement focused on nothing more than redemptive love that has no spoke person, that has no leader, but has only one single foundation that could be pointed to, which is Jesus the Christ. The hope is for Jesus to be seen, to be written in the history books, to be remembered. Our name is not important; we will be given a new one in heaven (I’m hoping for Hank the Hammer).

Jesus Christ is the name that matters, the name by which all people will confess, the name that drives out demons and fears, the name that brings mercy and peace, the name that changes the world. If you want to change the world, think small, think often, and think Jesus.

If you have any love transforming ideas, please be part of the change and share them!