By Jerry Devine, Detroit Conference Director of Connectional Ministries
You may have seen the television ad that shows one person helping another, who then helps another, who then helps another … until the circle reminds us of a way of life that is compassionately attentive to the environment we are in. Large or small, the decision to be “incarnationally” involved in the world makes a difference. That is why YOU MATTER.
You may have seen the television ad that shows one person helping another, who then helps another, who then helps another … until the circle reminds us of a way of life that is compassionately attentive to the environment we are in. Large or small, the decision to be “incarnationally” involved in the world makes a difference. That is why YOU MATTER.
On the afternoon of Sunday, May 25, 1986, more than five million people joined hands to form a line that stretched 4,152 miles—from New York City to Long Beach, Calif. A young couple and their three young sons joined the line, hand in hand, along Philadelphia Pike in Claymont, Delaware. They had not started the movement to raise funds and awareness for hunger relief programs; they had not signed up early, partly due to struggling to make a personal donation beyond the needs of their own family. Perhaps they were even a little skeptical about large events and the media hoopla surrounding them. Even so, as the day approached, they felt compelled to move out of their personal space into the world, linking with others for a public witness of concern and involvement.
On that day participants joined hands across the United States and sang“We Are the World,” “America the Beautiful,” and the Hands Across America theme song. I would have to ask my adult sons if they remember that sunny Sunday afternoon where we had a sense of the larger world and the need to care and be involved — I still do. Large movements and moments are made up necessarily of small decisions to make a difference.
Change the World is a United Methodist invitation to make a difference. April 24-25, 2010, has been identified as a day for local congregations and individuals to join in an effort to make a larger visible public difference—to make the love of Jesus Christ visible in the world.
With some skepticism I decided to read Mike Slaughter’s new book, visit the Web site, and then decide whether it was worth my time and attention. As I freely decided how I would be involved, I was convicted with the awareness that people with hunger do not have that choice.
People with malaria or other diseases of poverty do not have that choice. People that live without health care or housing do not have that choice. Many of us have the luxury of deciding how and when I feel like making a difference, while others are forced to make decisions in the midst of their unjust realities.
I am reading a second book in parallel with Slaughter’s treatise, Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity. Author Mark Batterson talks of letting our “hearts be broken by the things that break God’s heart.” While I differ with some of Batterson’s approach, he has that raw feel for genuine faith that appeals to me. The premise of the book (thus far in my reading) is in what he calls the “Primal Commandment”: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” He creates his own quadrilateral by interpreting the commandment this way:
“The heart of Christianity is primal compassion.
The soul of Christianity is primal wonder.
The mind of Christianity is primal curiosity.
And the strength of Christianity is primal energy.”
He reminds me to “keep the main thing the main thing”, which is to be the body of Christ in the world, not the church in the building. We call and equip disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, not the survival of the church. It is in giving ourselves away that we will find ourselves.
The key issue for me is not whether you and I get directly involved in an event on the specific days of April 24-25. It is an invitation to wake up and get involved with others in making a difference as a follower of Jesus Christ! I have already decided where I will change the world that week. Choose now to let God expand your heart and time to care for the things that break God’s heart—and transforms the world!
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