Many of you who read this won't know the song "History Maker" by Delirious? but it was a song that I really liked singing about ten years ago. (If you don't know it, here's a link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loyq_JCjZJY) And why wouldn't people want to sing a song like this?
"I'm gonna be a history maker in this world.
I'm gonna be a speaker of truth to all mankind.
I'm gonna stand; I'm gonna run
Into your arms, Into your arms again."
I would sing this, and would lead others singing it, in the belief and desire that I could be a history maker; that I could be used by God to change lives in incredible ways and so I would make history. But is it really up to me? And is it all about me?
Today I have watched a youtube clip about motorbikes and one of the blokes in this was leading a company that makes motorbikes that are cheap enough to buy and simple enough to work on. He made this comment, "You go to College to learn how to change the world, but you can barely change a door handle." And then I was reading an article from a website I discovered today and there I read this:
‘When I was younger, I was part of a youth group and went along to
the big events. I don’t know how many times I got told, “You can change
the world for Jesus” or “You can be a history maker.” And because I was
a really keen Christian, I believed it. I really believed it.
What’s
interesting is that I’m nearly 30, and I haven’t changed the world yet.
I don’t know how many of us who preached that message have. A couple
of years ago I had to go through a process of realising that I’d
actually been really damaged by that, because I felt like a failure. I
believed what I was told. I thought I was going to be a history maker
and change the world for Jesus. I gave myself to Jesus wholeheartedly,
and don’t get me wrong, I made plenty of mistakes, but I was sold out
for God, through school and through college. I called out to God in
prayer for my friends and for the nations, and I still haven’t changed
the world yet. We have to face the fact that as soon as we stand up on
stage and say, ‘You can change the world’, to a group of 100 young
people – we are creating 99/100 if not 100/100 failures. And I’ve done
it, I’ve been the person on stage preaching, because it sounds great in a
sermon.
(http://www.premieryouthwork.com/Past-Issues/2014/October-2014/Youth-work-in-the-age-of-the-selfie)
I understand exactly what this writer is saying because he has put into words my own thoughts and feelings. I heard that message when I was a teenager. I heard that message when I was training for Ministry. I preached that message 'because it sounds great in a sermon'. And if I feel like I've failed, then how many others do too?
And how many have doubted their faith because they haven't been able to do anything of great significance, anything that will go down in history? And how many have walked away from God thinking that He wouldn't be interested in someone who couldn't be a history maker?
I don't have an answer to these questions. But there is a reason that we can roll off the names of some of the great men and women of church history - because they stand out. And maybe, just maybe, they stand out from the rest of us not because of what they are but because of what God has gifted them to be! We can't all be Paul. We can't all be John Calvin. We can't all be William Booth. We can't all be Mother Theresa. And nor should we be.
I can be me. And, by God's great grace, I can be me in a group of people called the Church. Here I find that there is a group of people with whom I can worship, and encourage, and serve. Here I find that my weaknesses become strengths, and my strengths become weaknesses as I realise I cannot rely on myself.
Can I be a history maker? I've decided to leave that with God.
I'd rather people see Jesus.
