How can the World be Transformed?

In Matthew, Jesus tells us, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Our obedience to Christ Jesus is the key to transforming the world. Over and over, throughout the Bible God tells us that what He really wants from us is our obedience. The story of King Saul and Amalekites in 1 Samuel 15, shows us just how important that being obedient to the Lord is. In this story, we find that being obedient is better than trying to honor God through our own works.

Samuel, God's prophet, is told by God to have King Saul lead an army to destroy the Amalekites. In verse 3, God is very specific, "Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys." The Amalekites had attacked the Israelites as they traveled from Egypt to the Promised Land and God was now going to punish them. So King Saul gathers an army and attacks the city of Amalek. But in verse 9, we find that God's command has not been followed. "But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed." So, In their minds, the King and the soldiers were bringing back the best of the best to sacrifice to the Lord. They wanted to give to God an offering, they wanted to show God their devotion through these sacrifices.

But God is not pleased with this turn of events. We read in verse 10, "Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: "I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions." Samuel finds King Saul at Carmel, where Saul is setting up a monument to himself. So Samuel questions Saul about the animals that are there and Saul explains that these animals that were captured are to be sacrificed to the Lord. Then Samuel tells Saul, in verses 18-19, what God had spoken to him the night before, "And he sent you on a mission, saying, 'Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.' Why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD?"

Saul is completely caught off guard by this. His response comes in verse 20, "But I did obey the LORD," and again Saul explains the reasoning behind his actions, "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal." Do we not act in the same way sometimes? God's Word is very clear about how we should live, but we decide that this verse or that verse just does not apply to us. We reason that even if we do not do exactly what God's Word says to do, that God will surely understand. Maybe not. Samuel's reply to King Saul is found in verse 22-23, "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king."

Look at the words that are used in the last verse, rebellion, sin, divination, arrogance, evil, idolatry, rejected. These are strong words used to show how serious God is about disobedience. In order to make a difference in this world, we as Christians, must learn to be more like Christ Jesus. He is our Saviour precisely because He was obedient. Philippians 2:8 "He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." In order for the world to be transformed, we must first be transformed through the renewing of our minds. Romans 12:2: "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." Let us cast aside the idea that we can in some way, do something for God. Instead let's turn to His Holy Word and apply His teachings to our lives on a daily basis. In Luke 9:23, Jesus is talking to the crowd, "If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me." This is the model that Jesus set before us and only when Christians begin to follow this model will the world be transformed.

The Church Needs to Wake Up!

Christian Smith and other researchers with the National Study of Youth and Religion out of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill conducted more than 3,000 interviews with adolescents. Their findings show that there is a systemic problem in the Church. The youth of America have developed a totally different view of who God is and how we have a relationship with Him. The researchers are calling this new belief system, Moral Therapeutic Deism.

These teens do not consider this to be a new religion, they consider it Christianity, because most of them regard themselves as Christians. But, their beliefs are far from the normal Christian doctrines that have been taught for two millennia. The researchers identified common beliefs held among these teens, when it comes to their beliefs in God. None of these common beliefs include a way of redemption from sin. Indeed, sin is not even included in the dialog. The central core belief of Christianity is that Christ Jesus is the Saviour of all of mankind and without His redemptive blood, we would all be lost. But this is no longer considered a necessary belief to be considered a Christian. This new "christianity" is not just among our youth, but is also becoming the norm in a large section of our society.

The Bible gives a description of peoples attitudes during the last days. “You must realize, however, that in the last days difficult times will come. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, unfeeling, uncooperative, slanderous, degenerate, brutal, hateful of what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. They will hold to an outward form of godliness but deny its power. Stay away from such people.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5 - ISV). Don't these verses describe our society pretty well? Notice near the end that some people will seem like Christians, but inwardly, they will not be truly committed to the Word.

How did we get into this position?
It seems that many leaders in the Church have adopted the attitude that the Church needs a kinder and gentler gospel. All this talk of sin and death makes people uncomfortable. So, they changed the focus from Jesus atoning for our sins to God wants us to feel loved. After all, doesn't the Bible tell us that God is love? The "new" gospel is God loves you and wants you to be happy. Too many Churches have become little more than civic organizations. Their emphasis is no longer on making disciples of Christ Jesus, but on making people feel good about themselves and their relationship with God.

What must we do to overcome this problem?
The Bible is the answer. We must get back into the Word, for only within the pages of the Bible lies the Truth and it cannot be found anywhere else. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete and thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 - ISV).

Paul told us in 2 Timothy that these people “hold to an outward form of godliness, but deny its power.” We have to change the way the Church reaches out to people. Our first priority must be to make disciples, people who are committed to following the teachings of Jesus. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20 - NET)

We must let go of the fear that some people will reject the Gospel. Jesus was not afraid to take a stand that was so demanding of people that some walked away from Him. Remember the story of the rich young ruler? Luke 18:18-30 (NASB). This young man came seeking, but when Jesus required of him something that he was not willing to depart with, the young man left. Jesus let this young man walk away. Did Jesus not care? Certainly He did, because “He does not want anyone to perish, but wants everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9 - ISV). So, why didn't Jesus chase this man down and ease the requirements to make this man stay. Luke 18:28-30 (ISV) tells us, “Then Peter said, “See, we have left everything we have and followed you.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left his home, wife, brothers, parents, or children because of the kingdom of God who will not receive many times as much in this world, as well as eternal life in the age to come.” Jesus had called to these men, "come" and they had dropped everything to follow. He would not lower the standard for the rich young ruler, nor will He lower it for this generation.

The Church must proclaim to the world the standards set by Jesus. Let us not have a spirit of fear, but when someone comes seeking, let the Church boldly proclaim to them the Good News.