Can one person make a difference? The answer is “yes.” William Wilberforce made a difference. John Newton made a difference. Abraham Lincoln made a difference. Gandhi made a difference. Martin Luther King, Jr. made a difference. Nelson Mandela made a difference. Esther made a difference. And so can you. The real question is not whether you can make a difference or not; the real question is, will you make a difference or not.

You can make a difference! What the world needs now is for people just like you and me who are willing and ready to think, say, and do what is right, regardless of the cost.

See something

It all begins by opening your eyes. Look around you. What is wrong with the world? What is broken? What is unjust? What is improper? Look. See. Cut through the haze of day to day surviving and see the world the way that it really is.

Put aside your preconceptions and prejudices and just look. It won’t take you long to see things are not the way they should be. Don’t turn a blind eye. Don’t look the other way. Don’t ignore. See it, even if it is difficult to see.

I want to tell you something that may be hard for you to hear, and harder for you to believe. But it is true. God is not frustrated with the candidates for the November elections. God is not frustrated over whether the states are Blue or Red. God is not frustrated over whether you are registered Republican, Democrat, or Libertarian. God is not frustrated over a 29% increase in Obamacare Insurance Premiums. God is not frustrated over fracking. God is not frustrated with Wall Street. God is not frustrated with the economy.

But God is grieved that just down the road there are neglected widows. Just down the street there are hungry children. Just over the River there is incest. Just up the Parkway there is a Boy’s Home filled with orphans. Just across town there is an abused woman. Just across the street there is a school filled with children who don’t know Jesus.

Listen to me. Listen well. We are overly concerned with Macro problems, while God is concerned with micro-possibilities. Let me simplify. We care about the big. God cares about the small. To my knowledge, God has never called His people to win a Presidential Election! God has never called His people to win the House or the Senate. God has never called His People to increase international trade agreements.

But God has called His people…

• To care for the widow
• To care for the orphan
• To feed the hungry
• To care for the alien, and the refugee
• To clothe the naked
• To give cold water to the thirsty
• To bandage the wounds of the injured
• To visit those in prison

You may not change the whole world, but when you change the destiny of one person you change their whole world! Stop worrying about Macro problems and see micro-possibilities!

Feel something

Having seen, feel. Having opened your eyes, open your heart. Opening your eyes brings consciousness. Opening your heart brings compassion. Feel something. If there is hurt around you, then feel the hurt. If there is brokenness, then feel broken. If there is injustice, feel aggrieved. Awareness of injustice without emotion breeds condescension. Awareness of injustice with emotion births compassion. Compassion brings action.

There is no such thing as compassion without action. Compassion moves you inwardly to act outwardly. But you will not do something great outwardly until you feel something great inwardly. Think about the world. What wretches your gut? What leaves you wide-eyed until the wee hours of the morning? What turns your stomach? What makes your heart race?

Find something. Then feel something.

Do something

When you have seen and when you have felt, do something. Doing nothing is an option, but it is not a very good option! Act. Even if you act alone. Listen, as your pastor I am not seeking to recruit more people to carry our more programs for our church. I am seeking more people who are willing to go into this broken world and BE the church!

Act. Even if you act alone. Be courageous—no matter the cost.

On April 18, 1521 at the Diet of Worms, Martin Luther took a stand against the ills he saw. He said, “Here I stand; I can do no other. God help me. Amen.” The Roman Church hated him for his staunch stand against their ways. They wanted to kill him, but they couldn’t, so they settled for excommunicating him. Nevertheless, there he stood. God helped him. All by himself raised a torch that lit the fires of churches like ours today. Would you have done that? Would you have had the guts to do something?When Mother Theresa, the compassionate nun of Calcutta, spoke before an audience on sophisticated Washington D.C., she addressed a deep concern of hers: the sanctity of life. As a pro-abortion President of the USA sat behind her, she boldly announced, “Send me your babies.” Would you have the guts to say what she said in the company in which she said it?

We cannot be known for what we stand against until we take an active stand for what we believe. Martin Luther saw something, felt something, and did something. Mother Teresa saw something, felt something, and did something. Mordecai saw something, felt something, did something. Esther saw something, felt something, did something.

Having a belief is not the same as taking a stand. Convictions without action are really just theories. Theories without action are just fantasies. Theories with action become realities. Realities can change destinies. Changed destinies change eternities.

Lives are never changed by privately held opinions. Lives are changed when people put their opinions into action. See something. Feel something. Do something. Regardless of the consequences.