How Can I Influence the World When I Look Like Just Like It?

I locked the door quickly as I carefully balanced my giant coffee cup and my purse, rushing to start our day. I marched to the car where all of the kids were waiting to be dropped off, and caught a glimpse of an alert on my phone. Ugh. I rolled my eyes and silently prayed the prayer I do in those situations..."Lord, come quickly."

I'm sick of the sensational headlines that clog up my social media feed. I'm grieved at the tragedies that take place left and right. So much death. So much pain in this world. I pray for change. I ask God to either change the world or to return so He can take us out of it. 

As I read yet another attention-grabbing, click-bait headline today in frustration, a thought came to me: Our job is to affect the world, one person in our circle of influence at a time. We can never change the world individually, but we can influence. 

However, taking a closer look at my life, how much influence will I have over a world that I am comfortable in? Am I just enough like everyone else in my culture that I blend in and don't really stand apart?

Jesus was attractive because He looked different in the way He lived His life. He went to the sinners and the lost and ate with them, yes, but He never compromised who He was to fit in or to make Himself relevant. What was relevant about Him was that He was the missing piece to the gaping hole in the puzzle of their lives. 

If I'm being honest, is that how I live my life? How much of what the world believes do I believe? How much of what the world holds sacred do I hold sacred. How much do I look like the world?

Will I truly influence anyone to be closer to Christ when more of me looks like the people I'm trying to influence than it looks like Christ?

If I want the Lord to change the world, I have to be willing and available and obedient to be used by Him. Just some thoughts going through my head today. ​

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