To change the world

"Every Christian wants to change the world. But, it's Tuesday, and so far you've done nothing but get out of bed, make coffee and sit at your desk for another day of drudgery and zoom. That dream where you do nothing but incredible, extraordinarily meaningful things all day long has not become a reality."

If, like me, you want a snippet as to what a book is going to be like before you buy, you probably won't be surprised to know that this passed the test and is my current reading. Yet despite it's opening, it isn't encouraging me to drop everything and go and do something totally different, it is helping me think about the ordinary things in my life.

I've loved working alongside a friend who is an evangelist in Burundi, and marvelled at the way he was so easy with people he met, able to relate and bring Jesus into many ordinary conversations. He has an infectious smile which makes his fellow Burundians warm to him. Yet I know I am not like him and do not have his ease at sharing the good news of Jesus, whether in a large gathering in front of hundreds or whilst haggling over the price of sweet bananas in the local market.

What has made me stop and think is a Phil Fischer (creator of Veggie Tales) comment, that people don't learn about Jesus from watching Christian films, they learn about Jesus from watching Christians. What he's reminding us is that we don't have to do extraordinary things (although it's great if you are doing them), but the simple things we all do every day: with our work colleagues or our school friends, the people we meet for coffee or go for a walk or cycle with; the neighbour who calls around because they need a favour.

So let's not lose the dream as Christians of wanting to change the world. We're just going to do it by being ordinary.