You say you want a Revolution,
Well, you know,
We all wanna change the world.
You tell me that it’s evolution,
Well, you know,
We all wanna change the world.
John Lennon sang these words in 1968 in the Beatles’ classic, Revolution. Our country (and much of the world) was going through turbulent times—not a lot different than today in many ways. Lennon astutely recognized that not all plans to change the world are created equal.
As everyone knows, we have an election in November. Election years are always interesting because regardless of the candidate, the office they are running for, or the party they are affiliated with, if you listen long enough, they will tell you how they are going to change the world. And because their promises tend to be limitless and often shapeshifting, I suppose it’s easy to fall into the thinking that if we can just get this or that person into office, it will change the world.
But it never does.
It may sound like it, but don’t think I’m being cynical or jaded in this conclusion. There was a time in my life when I embraced such thinking. But I came to recognize that anyone who thinks politics is the ultimate answer to the world’s problem is engaging in a huge overreach because our problems are in the end not political, but spiritual. That being so, offering a political solution to a spiritual problem is like trying to put the square peg in a round hole—no matter how much time, energy, or passion you put into it—it’s not going to work.
I don’t know that the world Jesus came into was much different than ours in this respect. Most of the Jewish people of Jesus’ time believed their central problem was that their country was occupied by Rome and if they could just regain their political independence, it would change everything. Yet as you work your way through the New Testament, amazingly neither Christ nor His apostles had anything to say from a political perspective about the Roman occupation of Palestine. That’s because they understood that there are no political solutions to spiritual problems (see John 6:14-15, 18:36).
That’s why what we find in the Sermon on the Mount and specifically the Beatitudes is so revolutionary. It’s not a placebo, a band-aid, or any sort of partial solution. It provides us with a step-by-step blueprint of how the world was changed by Jesus and His followers. It explains how and why the kingdom of God now covers the earth today while Rome is a tourist destination.
For followers of Jesus today, our challenge is to make sure the main thing remains the main thing. What the world needs is salt and light and that comes as disciples live out the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount. Paul wasn’t above using his Roman citizenship for his and the kingdom’s benefit. We can and should make a difference wherever and however we can. But real, lasting, eternal change does not come when our candidate is elected and takes over—it comes when Jesus takes over.
Not all plans to change the world are created equal. The main thing we need to do is make sure the main thing remains the main thing. That’s the revolution we need to be a part of.
A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green 