Imagine.

The lights dim; high-powered colored lights flash; the crowd cheers; the spotlight is on you. The world’s a stage and you want to be the only actor in full view. The blinding spotlight shuts off God but you go about basking in the limelight of being the center of everyone’s attention. Ever experienced that before? I have.

I’ve been a part of a band made up of like-minded Christians who frequently share the gospel through evangelistic concerts. You would expect that being in a Christian band would enable everyone to perform with the right motives. But, sometimes, that isn’t the case.

The allure of the stage is something unexplainable, only experiential. Having people clap after each song, coming up to you after a program and telling you how well you’ve done is a great feeling. Soon enough, the spotlight is what many performers crave after.

It beckons the question: Do we yearn to have the light of the world upon us or to be the light of the world?

The disciples in Jesus’ time were not spared from desiring to be in position of glory. In Mark 10:35 -44 we read of the account of James and John asking to sit in the places of honor.

Their request was one that was over the top when they requested to be given seats at the right and left of Jesus in heaven. This was not an ordinary request. It was one that would have elevated James and John above all the other apostles.

Jesus said that it was not His decision to grant such a favor. He then taught the disciples that biblical greatness is different from the world’s understanding. Those great in the world exercise their authority over people. However, a Christian who wants to be great is to be a slave. Even the Son of Man came to serve and not to be served.

This truth shocked me. We find the same truth in Philippians too.

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
Philippians 2: 5 – 7 (ESV)

The King of kings came to be a servant. It was way beyond comprehensive logic that a King would do such a thing. But this was the love that God had for His people. Jesus served to the point of death.

When we reflect upon this truth, we can’t help but be amazed at what Jesus was willing to do for us. His Servanthood is indeed something that we are to emulate. This issue of hoarding the limelight is sinful because we are meant to give all glory unto God. His glorification is our priority.

Now, imagine.

The world walks by without noticing you. People sneer at your Christian “antics” and persecute you. But God watches every step you take, providing encouragement through His Word. He causes His face to shine upon you and peace that surpassed all understanding to fill you. God is awaiting to commend you, “Good and faithful servant, in whom I am well pleased.”

Short Story: Forgiveness
“Please, let me go,” he pleaded. I looked down at him in his miserable state.
“I don’t belong in that gang, I don’t belong in any gang anymore. Please,” he continued.
“But it doesn’t change what happened, does it? You were the one who killed my girlfriend!” I screamed at him, giving vent to my hatred. “You have no idea how much I love her.”

Suddenly his face hardened. “It doesn’t change the fact that your girlfriend was the one who killed my brother,” he spat, dignified.
“That was an accident. She would never kill anyone!”
“Accident or no accident, my brother is dead!”
“A life for a life,” I agreed bitterly. “My girlfriend for your brother. Now we are even.”
“ ‘The past can hurt, but you can either run from it, or learn from it,’ someone said to me once,” he repeated, as though quoting a person he highly respects.
“So you have been running from your past, while I have been running to find you,” I growled.

Why wouldn’t my arm move to slice his throat? My other hand was wrapped around his neck; his back pushed against the wall. His feet were still on the ground, but he was entirely at my mercy.

“And now that you have found me, you are afraid,” he mocked.
“You forget who holds the knife,” I muttered. “And whose life is at stake, you fool?”
“I’m sick of pleading for forgiveness.”
“How quickly we sink back into our old ways!” I paused, my mind suddenly remembering something my girlfriend had said to me:

“I know you have your friends in this gang, but it’s not good for you.
It’s your decision in the end, and I’ll love you whatever you choose.
However, I think it best if you leave them. These are my best interests for you,”
she had said quietly.

She had made it sound so simple. How would she have any idea what it would mean if I gave up the gang? She couldn’t understand that if I leave them, I would have nowhere to go, nothing to do, no way to survive.

She and all her Christian values. She had come from the ideal background–a loving family, good education, hope for a future, money to spend, never a worry about where her next meal came from. She had everything, including a perfection I could never achieve.

“I only hope that if you choose to leave the gang, you won’t fall back into your old ways,
whatever the future may bring,” she whispered, as though assured of something I didn’t know.
“You’re worth more than this, I know it. You’re worth more than a cycle of revenge and hatred.”

It was her angelic face that flashed in my mind now, soft and meek. How could I bear it if her death was never avenged? But then, what would she think if I kill for her sake? I shook my head in confusion, my thoughts a blur.

I straightened my arm above my victim, my grip on the knife tightening. I swung the blade in a crescent and dropped it on the pavement.

His face was astonished, his body unmarked.

“This is no accident,” I declared. “But it’s what she would have wanted. She would have wanted me to forgive you. Now turn from your evil ways,” I heard my voice saying, but the words I spoke were not my own thoughts.

I picked up my knife then released him. Slowly I turned away from him, but he called my name before I took another step. “You spared my life. I shall spare yours, friend.” He held out his hand, and I shook it. “I know a place that you can board and work. Want to come?”

“Where? With the Salvation Army?” I asked, sarcastically.

“It’s not so bad,” he said to me.

How can we find the strength to forgive?

On the cross, Jesus prayed with his dying breath, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” This man, who had done no wrong in his life, had every right to demand their destruction, and every power to carry out their sentences justly. They wanted him dead, and they accomplished it, but instead of cursing them, this innocent man chose to plead for their souls, hard as their hearts were against him. Who is this Jesus guy? Why should I care about what he did or said? Maybe he was an important man, sure, but why should I be concerned with him? Yes I’ve heard of him somewhere sometime, but why should he worry me? So what if he’s such a controversial man?

Well, it looks like you missed the bit about his never doing anything wrong in his life. That’s only comprehensible if you believe that Jesus is God. There! I should have said this earlier, and it’s taken me so long to say so, but we both needed a chance to warm up to each other and to the topic at hand. Because Jesus is God, He is perfect. Everything about Him is perfect.

The road to self-discovery starts here, my friend. Either you can choose to completely reject all I have written to you and keep living your own way, or you can live this new and better life, giving God control over your life, which He already has, anyway. That’s right. Control over your life. God won’t bring you to anything you can’t get through, and He’s not going to completely and utterly annihilate you because He loves you.

Am I going too fast for you to catch onto me? I’ll strain out my ramblings. God loves you, more than anything you can possibly imagine. Well, unless you can imagine someone sending his or her son to hell to save you, which is what God sent Jesus to do, then yeah. Why would He do that? Because we have all rejected God and pushed Him away because we didn’t want Him in our lives—that is the one thing He can’t forgive. We deserve the death sentence, and to be separated from God for the rest of eternity, but Jesus took our sentence on Himself when He died for us on that cross. Every wrong thing you have ever done can be forgiven—if only you believe it.

So, you can choose to reject God for who He is and what control He actually has over your life and ignore His love for you, try to run your life in your own haphazard way, and face the consequences of being condemned by God and facing death and judgement, which I know isn’t going to be pretty. Or you can choose to submit to Jesus as your ruler, rely on His death and coming back to life, and be forgiven by God and receive His gift of eternal life.

If you want to know more, you should—you guessed it—start going to a church near you, where you can learn more about Christianity.

The world is in need of forgiveness, now more than ever. In times of crisis, one’s first instinct is to shift the blame to someone else, or when an appropriate scapegoat is discovered, all eyes and hatred are turn to him or her, ready to begrudge that person of everything. We are a flawed and cruel people.

The media portrays some just reasons for anger, especially in the last season of the Victorian bushfire crisis. No person can be held responsible for an earthquake, but the thirst for revenge is stirred at the news of a disaster deliberately started. It is a natural response for us to want our loved ones avenged, but this desire is not a beneficial or healthy one.

Such is the cold and harsh emotional climate in which I endeavour to reach you, my audience. Hear me out if I have lost you with my first two paragraphs. Each and every one of us makes mistakes or bad decisions over both trivial and important matters at some point in our lives. Some of these foibles are more significant than others, but all of us have fallen short nevertheless. We are as guilty as Eve who bit into the forbidden fruit.

Yet there is room for us to show the better side of our character. Each of us has the capability to be a considerate, self-disciplined citizen of a loving world—if we would only try. A world where no one is ostracised, excluded, ignored or rejected. Why bother? You ask me. Why should I be nice to everyone around me, even toward those whom I don’t like? Because we can make this wretched world a better place in ways beyond our wildest imagination. And you, yes, you, have that power just by choosing to make the right decision. You have the power in your words and your actions to make someone’s day. You could choose to smile and show appreciation to the person at the supermarket checkout, or the bus driver who brings you to where you need to be, or the boss who pays you every month so you have money to spend. You have the power to positively rock their world. What a great privilege!

But even my enemies? You think. Yes, even your enemies. In fact, your enemies will be the first people to notice the change in your attitude. Initially they may be wary of you and suspicious of your motives, but your persistence will win them over, and eventually you will see how valuable your enemy can be to you as a friend. So what’s holding you back? Why do we refuse to improve ourselves in order to make a positive difference in this world? All of us have a need for others to recognize our identity and purpose as an agent of change; a desire of ours is to make the world we live in a better place.

One of the things that may be stopping you could be pride. Why should I treat my enemies with mercy and forgiveness when they started the war against me? If anyone should make peace, it should be them, not me! They’ll think me weak and susceptible to attack; like a doormat they’ll wipe their feet all over me! Not a chance. But I tell you, that may not be true. At the end of it, they will see you a strong and determined individual for the worthy cause of a peacemaker.

Another thing holding your forgiveness back could be pain. You think that they have done you an unforgivable wrong, and your imaginary wound is still smarting from the hurt they have dealt you. In a short story I’ve written, Sandra has a clear reason for not wanting to forgive her enemies, but still the Captain trained her, or hoped to teach her the lesson on forgiveness. Was it too much of him to ask that of them? Perhaps to you it was, but let me explain the Captain’s demands from his point of view. He asked them to forgive the ruthless pirates not just because he needed them alive when the ship reached the port, but he knew that if they never let go of their hatred, they were never recover from their loss and would hence grant their enemies a victory from the agonizing invisible wounds remaining in their heart. (Look out for this story in my future post!)

By refusing to let go of the past pain, you would be allowing the enemies to achieve their goals. You would be granting those enemies a victory over you by letting your past hinder your present and control your future!

Forgive and forget, unless you want to grant them this satisfaction. It takes time, but it is possible.

All the way my Savior leads me, what have I to ask beside . . .

January 2009—I was packing my bags in preparation (and giddy anticipation) for a month-long journey orchestrated by God. I was not sure what God was going to have me do, but I knew where He wanted me to be—Zambia.

I gave up all the comforts and luxuries of home—no blackberry, no laptop, no air-conditioning. I left my family and friends to enter a world so contrary to my selfish being. Yet I was constantly encouraged with a peace and understanding that the safest place to be is where God wants you to be.

Before it all began . . .
The weekend before I set sail to bring God’s Word to a spiritually dry land, I was under attack by the “enemy.” I learned that one is never more targeted by the devil than when the person is doing the will of God.

Within the course of three days, my uncle was in the hospital receiving back surgery, my cousin had gotten into a car accident, my grandmother was admitted into the hospital for suspected brain tumor, and my 98-year-old great grandmother passed away. Around every corner, the devil was setting up traps of discouragement and disappointment to catch me in my weakness. In tears I pleaded with God to relieve me of my pain, my misery, and my hurt.

God reminded me that He would never give me more than I can handle. Hence, like Peter who walked on water, I was determined to step out of the boat, hold fast to my Christian faith and keep my eyes fixated on my Savior, Jesus.

First steps in Zambia
My journey began with three exhausting days and two sleepless nights of travel to the bush of Zambia, Africa. It was there that reality set in—I had no means of communication to family and friends. I was terribly homesick.

Lying on my face in prayer to my Father in Heaven, I looked to Him for comfort. God heard my prayer and answered me with sweet, refreshing peace. I was overwhelmed when I felt His holiness replenish my soul with a thirst quenching tidal wave of grace. This made me see that God was indeed working His grace in me, slowly but surely.

By this time, my heart was grieved with a spiritual burden to reach the destitute and disoriented surrounding me in this foreign terrain. I began by developing relationships with fellow Christians as we worked together on a dormitory building project at the Manna Campus Evangelical Bible College.

The labor was physically straining. Each day we laid another brick and the building grew another tier higher. The nights were always welcoming. My aching muscles and tense joints voided me of much rest, leaving me more tired as each day went by.

In addition to the aforementioned fatigue, nourishment was sparse as we survived humbly yet habitually on stale bread and sour meats. I found myself consistently praying the missionary prayer, “Lord, I will put it down, you keep it down!” God through His grace and mercy, kept me healthy all the way without illness befalling me.

The beauty of God in Zambia
With the blessing of good health, I managed to take advantage of my evening time and explored Zambia. I observed the lands inhabitants and found Africa enormously attractive with its colors, tastes, smells, wildlife, nature, culture, and especially its people.

The Zambians are a friendly, humble, and beautiful people who long for interaction and communication. They are peaceful, patient, and unhurried but it is their contentment that struck me the most. Their satisfaction in poverty left me utterly grateful to God and His providence in my life. God opened my eyes to see my self-centeredness, my soiled heart condition to desire worldly yet meaningless possessions.

My heart was ignited with passion and laden for the Zambian people, so I traded in my evening adventures and began working at a nearby school where I taught Bible stories to children.

Evidently, God was not only working in the lives around me but also in me. The Holy Spirit filled my mouth with His words and enabled me to teach the children. As a result, there were 61 children that were receptive to the Gospel, desiring and acknowledging Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. It was an overwhelming and humbling occurrence which was entirely dictated and written by God.

Lessons learnt
I have since returned to my home in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where life’s toils entangle, but my journey to Africa has been an experience of life altering proportions.

My longing is to serve God with every breath I have. I do so not just by attending church, meeting in fellowship with other men, and studying God’s Word daily. Furthermore, I want to follow Christ’s example by investing my time in the lives of people around me.

Each day I wake up with purpose and I intentionally live a life of servanthood. Now I no longer strive after worldly wealth but after my Father’s heart. My journey to Zambia was a journey of the soul.

These people lived over the course of history from the Old Testament to the 20th Century and yet they shared one thing in common: they were young people who readily answered the call of God. Their lives impacted others.

God uses the most ordinary people to bring the gospel to many parts of the world. Some of these missionaries even went to the grave for what they did. I won’t lie. I’ve been impressed, inspired and encouraged after reading books on these giants of faith, but this zeal usually last for a mere 5 seconds.

I’ve always viewed all these cases as too idealistic and utopian. I also felt God would never call me and even if He did, He probably didn’t have a choice left. As I delved deeper into His Word, it said otherwise. It all begins with me.

What does God’s Words say?
Jesus started His ministry by seeking out His disciples. In that time, the Pharisees also had their own followers. Young men who wanted to become a disciple of the Pharisee had to vie and even beg for a position. However, Jesus’ ministry was different. His disciples didn’t need to vie or fight for a place; they only had to obey Jesus’ call to follow Him.

Today, obedience to the call of God is something that few of us recognise as important. God calls out to us but we turn a deaf ear to Him. Sometimes we even secretly pray that He calls the person beside us instead.

We must first come to a realization that God’s work in our lives is an ongoing process. He uses His Words to teach, rebuke, correct and train us in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16). The process of sanctification is through and through (1 Thess. 5:23) in our lives.

Jesus reminds us that we who belong to Him will know His voice when He calls and we will follow Him (John 10:27). As He calls out to us, our right response is to be obedient and follow, denying ourselves and picking up the cross daily (Luke 9:23).

However, this faith that we have in following Christ cannot and should not be mere lip service. From James 2:14 – 25, we know that faith without deeds is dead. James highlighted the example of Abraham who faithfully followed what God told him to do even to the point of sacrificing Isaac, his son. Abraham’s faith was made complete in what he did at the altar. “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (v.23).

Abraham’s act of faith showed an active submission to the Lord. Isaac was the promised child that Abraham had been waiting for through whom he would have descendants as numerous as the stars. But yet God asked for Isaac’s life. Abraham had to rid himself of his parental obligations and doubts about God. He had to wholly trust that God ultimately worked all things good for His namesake.

How than is such a lesson applicable in today’s context?
Jesus gave the answer in Matthew 5:13. We are to be salt and light of the earth. This is our act of exercising faith and deeds through active submission to the Lord.

Salt
Salt in Jesus’ time existed in rock forms. The purer the quality of salt, the more expensive it would be. It was of importance at that time because of its qualities. It preserves and adds flavour to foods.
Similarly, we are made important and sought after by the qualities God has given. Our lives are meant to add flavour to the lives of others. We are meant to introduce what never was there in the lives of non-Christians: Jesus Christ. Through our lives, as used by God, we may influence the lives of others as well.

Light
Light illuminates the dark, providing guidance to all. The source of this light in us is Jesus. Our lives are meant to shed the light of Jesus to all those around us. We are meant to be exemplary in all we do, pointing people to the truth, and eradicating darkness.

As salt and light, we must actively submit to God, remembering His goodness at all times. This submission requires us to open up our lives to God that He may work in and through us for His glory alone. Like Abraham, we should not allow our personal expectations to hinder us from following God. When He calls, we should follow, trusting that in all circumstances He is good and will never put us in situations that we cannot handle.

How than can I put into practice all these lessons?
A consistent service of sharing His gospel to those around us is what Jesus commissioned us to do. This sharing is done even in our day-to-day activities when people observe our lives.

“A new command I give you: Love one another.
As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
By this all men will know that you are my disciples,
if you love one another.”
—John 13: 34–35

This verse constantly reminds us that by our love, people will know that we are Jesus’ disciples.

Daily remind yourself of the gospel of Christ, the richness of grace and mercy and the everlasting life promised. Fix your eyes upon the Creator, run the race of faith unhindered and glorify Him in all you do.

This is how you can change the world.

Youth can change the world—a far-fetched idea or a realistic goal?

Longman Dictionary of American English defines “change” as “to become different, or to make someone or something become different.”

Now, that’s sounds like something plausible. But, the world?

I love the perspective given in Acts 1: 8, “And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

It starts from the ones closer to you and expands outward. But the clincher is in the words before: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.”

God can change the world and He wants to work through us.

Now, what are we waiting for?

This month, we will be publishing articles by youth on how they view this topic. Be sure to log on and, yes, we would love to have you join in the discussion.

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