The sense of moral obligation may be the most vital factor in making life better for us as well as for others. This could be the primary compelling force in people who make a difference in our world. What I mean by "make a difference" is to become a significant contributor to the cause of improving society. Such a person sees a need, an injustice, or an incorrect system and does something about it. In some difference-makers this virtue is awakened after an experience of being caught under the wheels of an aberrant system themselves. As a result, they become inspired to change it. Others are simply born with the desire to make things work better for others and the courage to do something about it. In any case, people who are termed difference-makers stand out as unique individuals because they care enough to sacrifice. This is a virtue that stands in stark contrast to the propensity of human nature for self-gratification. In my opinion, it is quite impossible to make a difference without making some type of a sacrifice. Difference-makers give selflessly and heroically as they struggle to help the helpless and relieve those who are in despair. They fight to fix broken things, to change bad to good, and to stay the clammy hand of injustice. Their sacrifices also included being misunderstood, misrepresented and subsequently persecuted by people who have overlooked or ignored the cause that difference-makers take up. Usually, they are pilloried while they live, and eulogized after they die. Their number increases with the value of honor and principle, and decreases when deviate trends turn a society toward self-indulgence, materialism and promiscuity. Without difference-makers, humanity would have long ago fallen victim to its own sordid devices and self-destructed.
Our jaded world today is a hard case for those who want to make a difference in it. Currently, there seems to be an atmosphere of greed and dishonesty fostered by an abundance of takers. This is the day of "take the money and run," when common decency is trampled under the impatient feet of selfishness. It is a "me first" society in which many people consider scruples as unnecessary hindrances to their quest for wealth and fame. They view kindness as a weakness and prey on compassionate people who have a giving heart. But there is also the hoard of apathetic people who would rather let a worthless system grind along in an insanely inefficient manner rather than lift one finger to correct it. Into such calamity, difference-makers usually appear with radical ideas for improving things. Instead of being rewarded, they are often attacked by the people who thrive on various defunct systems that are wired together with a decrepit status quo. Many of their attackers have established careers based on perpetuating vicious cycles and managing dead ends. Everyone knows that a volume of paper work is needed to make a dead end appear as a through street. These folks are not going to yield easily to the dreaded change that difference-makers bring. Unless they are deposed or converted, these enemies of workable ideas and efficiency will fight every effort by difference-makers to change their flawed systems.
Jesus Christ was and is the consummate difference-maker. He came into a religious society ruled by an egocentric hierarchy who not only defended, but also worshipped the status quo. Religion was a cruel and oppressive dead weight on the masses, and the nation was slave to a foreign power. The hope of God had been organized into a stifling religious system that ignored suffering and despair. Disease, poverty and wickedness were widespread, and no one seemed to have a workable solution. People who could have helped didn’t care, and the people who cared seemed powerless to do anything. Religious leaders were top heavy with titles and other honors that ingratiated their inflated egos. They spent a great deal of time and energy garnishing society with religious symbolism, but their spiritual productivity was an embarrassing trickle. Jesus called them hypocrites to their faces and defied many of their venerated traditions. It was not because He wanted to be a problem, but because the right way stood out in stark contrast to the wrong way. When Jesus revealed the right way and the truth, He cut a path through their pompous and frivolous order like a twister ripping through a mobile home park. Shaken from their chastisement, their power threatened and their egos piqued, those managers of failure decided to murder him. However, you can’t keep a good man down. By His death, Jesus made a difference, and having rose from the dead, He still makes a difference today.
Christendom appears to have come full cycle again as it has repeatedly throughout history. Again we are seeing the ascendancy of commercial religion, personal kingdom building, and other mundane religious systems that ignore the plight of suffering and lost humanity. I recently saw a statistic revealing that over ninety percent of church resource and income is spent on itself. The church system, for the most part, has become ingrown and "in-reaching." A huge emphasis is placed on symbolism and polishing the relics of revivals past. God always sends difference makers into these times of doldrums to provoke a revival. The revival comes like a wrecking ball to shatter our pseudo-religious images and idolatry. God cares nothing for the pomp and grandeur of our religiosity, but compels us to return with love and passion to perform His will. The indwelling of His Spirit insures that every true Christian can make a difference. But people complain: "How can someone such as I make a difference?" Although there are many things that one can do to make a difference; the difference that any professing Christian can make is simply to reflect the nature of Christ universally, consistently and emphatically. It sounds simple, but doing it is a bit more difficult. The reason is because difference making is often a boat-rocking, apple-cart-upsetting, tree-shaking and even chain-rattling adventure. It is the stark contrast of actual Christianity that casts a harsh glare on virtual Christianity, which is basic hypocrisy. People are more convicted by righteous acts than an abundance of righteous words. Thus, in attempting to minister to a society battered by satanic forces, one might find that he or she has offended a latent hypocrite or two. The fiercest opposition to difference-makers often comes from the religious society. It is not a smooth path to walk if one chooses to make a difference. But we have to ask ourselves a piercing question: "Where would I be if someone had not cared enough to share the love of Christ and make a difference in my life?" Better yet, we might ask: "What would the quality of my life be today if Jesus had not cared?" Then we must look about us for ways that we can make a difference in the lives of others. It is a cause worthy of our most devout endeavors and commitment. Cause defines meaning, and meaning defines destiny. Having a clear destiny in our lives gives purpose and fulfillment to it. How about the cause of being a difference-maker?
