How To Fix A Broken World

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by ron kyker 

 

Here is the great question most Christians have today; how do we fix our broken world? The answer is not so simple or we would have already done it. It is not so clear because we are trying to do it in worldly ways. The answer is a biblical one. It is a spiritual one. The answer is simple and it is clear, but not to a people ignorant of how it is done. I am ignorant of many things, and how to fix our broken world, seems to have been beyond my understanding. It is for most Christians as well. We have this wrong idea of how to fix any problem. We think it starts from the top down. We think we need a strong leader, a government with morals, or a man like Martin Luther King Jr. to mobilize the masses. 


While great leaders and governments get much of the credit for major advancements in any society, the truth is that any true lasting change starts from the bottom; not the top. We keep looking for that one person or that one great event that will fix things. We hope, and long for, that one great movement or revival that will put America back on track. Something that is broken doesn't get fixed this way. It is fixed one piece at a time with painstaking obedience changing one heart at a time. Transforming a broken world happens by lives being transformed one at a time. We wrongly view salvation the same way believing one real salvation experience changes everything. It is only the beginning of a lifetime of changing as God's Spirit transforms the heart of a man into the likeness of His Son Jesus Christ. Changing a broken heart works the same way as changing a broken world. 


---Luke 22:42
42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
---Hebrews 5:8
8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;


Submitting to the will of God and obedience is a subject most Christians don't like to meditate upon. Obedience is learned. It is learned through our suffering. No man will be obedient to God unless he first suffers. Salvation is only to those who are obedient to Him and who have learned to be obedient. Even the Son of God was not spared from learning this lesson. We must hear the Word of God and obey it. Through Christ's suffering, a full pardon from our sins was purchased for us. We will learn obedience to God the same way Christ did. Our learning it, through our suffering, starts when we first experience Christ and His holiness. When our utter sinfulness is confronted with Christ's holiness, we suffer the truth as all our dark parts are illuminated by His holy Light. Christ has been raised to this lofty status to rule over us and our lives. Our total submission to Him is required just as He was obedient to His Father's will. 


Through our suffering for Christ's sake, others will learn obedience as well. It is not enough to have only an understanding of the gospel; it must be obeyed. Many have a great understanding. Many have much knowledge of gospel truths. Few will obey it unto salvation through Jesus Christ. Few will learn obedience willing to suffer to learn it ask Christ did. Christ was made perfect in His obedience. We will be made perfect in His image as we learn to be obedient. To those who will deny themselves, crucify self on a cross daily for Christ's sake, and obey this gospel; to Him will Christ be the author of their faith. To them that devote themselves to a lifetime of obedience; to them He will become the finisher of it. To them, He will call "the sons of God." 


---John 15:1-2
1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.


A broken world will only be fixed by the obedience of God's people, those He has called according to His purpose, in bearing fruit. A vine is planted for only one purpose; to bear fruit. Bearing fruit as a child of God is advancing the Kingdom of heaven. The purpose of planting the seed of faith in us is to see that seed grow and bear much fruit; to give life to a lost and dying world. For a vine to grow and bear fruit, it must be pruned cutting the useless parts in us away that are doing nothing for this purpose. The vine must be cultivated; fed with the life giving sap that is Jesus Christ. We are to be alive in Christ and living for this one purpose. 


We make many vague descriptions of this salvation process that should result in our obedience in bearing fruit. We describe it as: accepting Christ, receiving Him, or asking Him into our hearts. These are all misleading and do not describe the true experience well. Christ gave Himself as a sacrifice for our sins so that we might be partakers in His holiness. Through Christ's obedience, we are made right with God. We don't merely accept, receive, or ask Him for anything. It is His redeeming power that gives it to us. Through our faith to believe in Him, that power is imparted to us. That seed of faith is sown by Christ. He puts it in our hearts. Through Christ's act of obedience, it is given. Through our act of obedience, it is received. Our obedience is the only thing we can give Him. Christ was obedient even unto death. We also must follow Him. We too must be obedient even unto our death. Death to self; what it wants, what it wills, and what it desires. There was power in Christ's obedience; the power to save a man's soul. That redeeming power is given to us in the person of God's Son. 


As we are obedient to God's will and purpose to save mankind, the redeeming power of Christ's Spirit is made alive in us. Many a professed child of God do a work for God, but is it a "good work?" What is his motive for doing it? Does it result in "fruit?" Any work done for God will be known by the fruit that it bears. Is God blessing the work that is being done? Are we just doing a work or is this work truly a "good work" of God driven by the redeeming power of Christ's Spirit? We need to understand the difference. 


Martin Luther King Jr. was the face of the Civil Rights movement. I in no way want to diminish the "good work" that he did in helping to achieve equality among the races. But it was the work of the many on the bottom that changed the hearts of Americans. People like Rosa Parks, the freedom riders, and school children stood in non-violent protest of racial inequality. The movement started from the bottom and raised a leader in King who became the voice of a righteous movement and a people who believed change was possible. One by one they changed the hearts and minds of Americans to support their cause for freedom. It will take that kind of "good work" powered by the Spirit of Christ to fix our broken world. 


As God's people submit themselves to suffering for the cause of Christ, obedience will be learned and shared with others. As we walk with Christ living a life of obedience sharing the gospel that has the power to give life to those that are dead, we will see our world change. It will then raise up leaders that will lead righteously; unlike the ones we presently have who seek their own gain at the expense of those on the bottom. As God's people become more obedient in bearing good fruit, the good fruit will then bear even more good fruit. This is how the early Church grew and began to thrive as God's people heard the Word of the Lord and obeyed it. What our broken world needs is, obedient soldiers of the cross. That obedience will only come through much suffering as it is learned and we are perfected in Christ. As long as we deny suffering is necessary, there will be little obedience. With little obedience, you end up where we are in America; broken! We must learn obedience again and the need to suffer to learn it. Without this obedience learned through suffering; our world will not be fixed.



I Am Just Me


If I were a treeYou would come and save me
If I were a whaleYou would do anything to set me free
If I were a strayYou would shed a tear for me times three

But I am notI am just me

I'm not a pit bullA roosterOr a horse being made into glue
I resemble my creatorI look something just like you

If I were gayYou would march in a parade
If I were an atheistI could sue you some day
If I were a MuslimYou would have to convert or be slain

But I am notI am just me

Someone who is lost and needs to be found
When I'm laid in the groundHell will be where I'm bound

Will you sacrifice all to save just me
Will you suffer much so I can be set free
Will you mourn and weepTo God will you make a passionate pleaJust for me

But you are notIs it just me

Is my life not worth even more than these
Will you not give up your comfortYour life of ease

Didn't Christ for you make such a passionate plea
Didn't He take all of God's wrath for you and me
Oh how I wish that I were one of these

Why are you notDoesn't your Christ hold the keys

If I were almost extinct like a Pandaa leopardor a frog
To raise a lot of money many a mile wouldn't you jog

But I am notI am just me

Were not your eyes opened to see
Is your faith not really real
Were you a thief who came in the sheep pen just to steal

I am just me

Someone Christ loved enough to die on that tree
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Prince Malachi is the founder of The Oracle Network and the Streetwear brand Y.A.H. Apparel

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