I so distinctly remember in high school people older than I was telling me that my friends and I were unique and going to make a real difference.
After graduating, I was and still can be so convinced that my life is going to change the world, make a huge impact, make a change that would be broadcasted, or instigate a humanitarian movement.
And sure, maybe, who knows? Maybe that WILL be the case for me or for friends of mine. I don’t know.
What I do know is that not every person mentioned in the Bible is a world changer. Paul changed the world in his day, but it seems that Mary and Martha were just diligent Jesus servers and listeners.
Not everyone in history was a world changer. In fact, out of the many people on the planet throughout every time in history, the WORLD changers are limited.
We’re not all called to be world changers. Maybe I’m NOT called to be a world changer, and that’s okay.
We are called to, however, affect lives. What we are called to be, each and every one of us, are life changers. Whether it’s on a global scale or with the lives around us every single day at school, work, home, or at a coffee shop, we’re called to be life changers.
Maybe some of us will be the next Rosa Parks or MLK, the next Neil Armstrong, or Corrie Ten Boom. But maybe some of us won’t be.
However, we are, all of us, you and me and him and her and they, called to love on the people in our lives. This could mean bringing meals to people who are going through a hard time, crying with someone who is hurting, saying the hard thing, or helping out someone in need. If any of us are going to be world changers, we should be life changers first.
We’re called, literally called, to serve others:
“The greatest among you will be your servant” Matthew 23:11.
“Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, ‘Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all” Mark 9:35
That’s a life changer.
We’re not all called to be world changers, and it was actually a hard pill to swallow for me when I first heard it at a Wednesday night church service.
But it’s true, and honestly, it doesn’t devalue your life or my life at all. It’s not a pessimistic mindset. It might even make our lives more impactful because it’s now a daily action, not just a nice theoretical idea.