Thoughts on the book, The World is Not Ours to Save, by Tyler Wigg-Stevenson

I've decided that I would be a much better manager of the time God gives me if I spend less time on socal media, like Facebook, and start reading more.  So, hopefully, over the next few months I'll begin sharing some thoughts on wahat I've been reading.

First, just because I read the book, does not mean that I agree with everything the author says.

That being said, I have not yet finished, The World is Not Ours to Save;  I'm barely halfway through it, but it's made a good impression, so far.

What I'm getting right now is, bottom line, we who believe that, through Christ, we can make a difference in the world, often get discouraged and burn out because we try to make changes in our won strength and wisdom.  We get overwhelemed by the enormity of the problems we see around us, by the social ills of the cities in which we live.

We make the mistake that the world is our to save.  We quickly buy into the idea that God is fully behind whatever cause we are fighting for.  Wigg-Stevenson gives an excellent example of our flawed thinking and wearisome efforts by describing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

I'ld never thought of the conflict in the terms he gives.  I'm finishing up a brief time in the States, and every time I come back here I'm struck by many things.  One of those is a segment of evangelical Christianity who feel that the only faithful view is to fully support Israel as a nation, no matter what.  This has always bothered me, for some reason.  I never could pinpoint the reason why, until diving into this book.

Wigg-Stevenson describes his trip to Jerusalem and the surrounding areas, where the conflict continues to tear people apart.

He writes about a number of Palestinian Christian families he met that are being persecuted by Israeli soldiers.  His point is that the Bible shows us a God who is not on either "side".  At one point in the Old Testament, a messenger of The Lord is asked about whose side God is on, to which he replies that He is God Most High.  God is God, and He is no respecter of persons.  Our part is to live our lives as Kingdom people.  God is concerned with His Kingdom, and Kingdom citizens, whether they are Jewish or Arab.

I'm going to keep reading.  I think there is a theme God's teaching me, lately.  It's far more important for me to bear fruit in whatever situation, on whichever "side" He has placed me, than to be "right" about my cause, or my organization, or my personal views on politics, etc.

Frustration, irritation, burnout:  these are the fruit of trying so hard to save the world around us, whether our world is, literally, the whole world, or our little neck of the woods, whereever He's placed us.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control....  We can, by the supernatural strength of His Spirit in us, show the world- even the world that often persecutes us - the miraculous change He can make in a life.