Saving the World

I woke up this morning and I had dreamed about a meeting with several people including several politicians and we were discussing how to change the world for the better. They were trying to figure out what influences people the most when they go to vote for specific candidates. The dialog was heated and finally I stood up and told them all, " The only thing that will change how people vote is when they have a change of heart. 93% of people will vote differently when they know Christ personally!" The room was quiet. They were not sure how to respond. I woke up still thinking about it.

Now where I got my statistics, I do not know. I dreamed this. But I will admit to searching the Internet to see if my statistic had any basis in facts. Sadly I didn't find any. I don't know about the 93%, but I know for me that  how I vote and my political activism is because of my faith in God and how I see the world because of that.

Yet as I searched the web, I realized that many people have a passion for something and that is what motivates them to be active in their causes. Some want to save our earth and are really involved with environmental issues. Some love animals and even how they eat is affected. We have peace movements who want to stop war at all costs. There are groups out there that are anti-Islamist, anti-Christian, anti-government. They band together by what they hate rather than by what they love. All of them believe, at least for a time, that their way is best and they should fight for it. Their way will make the world a better place to live. They will "save the world."

But the more I thought about it, the less I believed that any of them had the answers. I went back to my dream. The only thing that will really change the world is when people's hearts are changed and their actions follow. My way of being involved with politics isn't bad, but may not be the best way to spend my time either. Government cannot save us. I have been challenged by a dream and then by my research. An article I read said, "Nowhere in Scripture do we have the directive to spend our energy, our time, or our money in governmental affairs. Our mission lies not in changing the nation through political reform, but in changing hearts through the Word of God." That's not to say we just give up on politics. We still should vote and encourage good candidates who support our values to run. I don't believe we quit on it when God has given us that passion to serve in politics. I do think we have to keep our perspective balanced though and realize that while God can use every aspect of our lives, even politics, He works through other things, too. Maybe more so.

So what does this all mean? For me, it means I need to examine the time, energy and money I spend on political involvement and see if that is what God is continuing to call me to. Or should I, somehow, somewhere, be involved in another way of helping people to see that only in God will there be any true answers to the world's problems? Should I be investing myself more fully in pointing the way to Jesus? Because, really, culture, the world, can only be changed as hearts of individuals are changed. We can only "save the world" as people are saved by Jesus and their lives are transformed by Him. Then we will see a world that is truly changed for the better. Jesus is all that can really save the world. I just have to figure out my part in all of that.  I want to do my part, yet remembering His part is what is truly the most important! Jesus saves!