simple ambition vs. world-changing mission

For anyone that attends, or has attended, Indiana Wesleyan University, you have undoubtedly heard the phrase "world changer". It was my junior year of college when this phrase because the mantra of the entire campus. Everyone chapel session or commencement ceremony somehow incorporated the term and we were all challenged to be world changers. I must confess that up until recently the term grated on my every nerve. Maybe because it was repeated over and over in every class, by every professor. Maybe it was because it was printed on every banner or sign that hung around campus. Whatever the reason, it annoyed me. That was, until this past Sunday.

The past several months at church we have been working our way through the Upper Room Discourse in John. I must for a minute sing the praises of the expository teaching that comes from the pulpit at Southside Fellowship. Awesome! It is through that teaching that I have grown enormously over the past two years. I'm so thankful for that fact. This past week dealt with John 17: 17-19 where Jesus is praying to His Father and asking Him to "Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth" and acknowledging that this will be accomplished when He, himself, is made holy through His death on the cross. The odd thing is that verse 17 deals with sanctification/holiness and so does verse 19. However, sandwiched between the two is verse 18, which deals with mission: our mission. This clearly points to the fact that the two are directly related.

In John 17:18, Jesus says, "In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world." So what is the mission that He has given me in the world?

The mission Jesus had was to make much of God the Father; to glorify Him so that others would see Him for who He truly is. Is that my mission? I think so. As Christ-followers, our mission in this world should be to make much of God; to put Him on display; to glorify Him so that the world will see Him for Who/What He truly is.

The example was given on Sunday of the lofty ambitions of children. Ask any child what they want to be when they grow up and they will undoubtedly answer back with a doctor, a lawyer, a fireman, a teacher, or some other occupation that would allow them to help people and make a difference in this world. Never have you heard a 5 year old boy say that he wants to push paper when he grows up. Never. This is because as children we have not been overtaken with cynicism and still embrace the God-given desire in us to change the world around us. Children don't want to live their lives for themselves. They want to live it for others; to help others. So what happens as we grow up? We somehow lose that child-like ambition and begin to focus on ourselves and live our lives trying to get ahead, stay ahead, and make a name for ourselves. This is not what God intends for His children.

Our mission, as children of God, should be to change our world by making much of Him. Our mission should be to live our lives in such a way that it puts God on display and creates a desire in the world to want what we have. Our mission should be to change our world. I am the first to admit that this has not been by life's ambition. I've always wanted to do the right thing and live my life for Christ, but that's not enough for me anymore. It was not enough that Jesus merely come to Earth and live a good life. He gave it all to change the world. He gave His life away for others, putting His Father on display, and showed the world what God was really like. Jesus changed the world and completed His mission. The same mission He has given to me, He completed. So then how will I respond to my mission? How will you respond?

Will we embrace our world-changing mission or settle for simple ambition?