“But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”
— Jeremiah 29:7
“I resolved that I would not leave the world as I found it.”
— William Wilberforce
A STAGGERING THOUGHT EXPERIMENT
It’s easy to become disenchanted with the world we live in.
The shouting matches on cable news.
The polarization of nearly every topic.
The open disdain many have for the Christian way of life.
Sometimes, it feels like we’re swimming upstream, like faithfulness is foolishness in a world moving the opposite direction.
But a few weeks ago, I was listening to a sermon when the pastor posed a thought experiment that I couldn’t shake for the rest of the day. He said:
“Imagine going back through history and removing every impact Jesus, His followers, and Christians have made. What would the world look like? What are we left with?”
At first, it felt abstract.
But the more I sat with it, the more it grew in weight.
What if every Jesus-follower had been silent?
What if every Christian reformer had stayed home?
What if every selfless act done in the name of Christ had never happened?
What would the world look like then?
The answer is staggering.
ERASING THE INFLUENCE OF JESUS
We’re so immersed in the ripple effects of Christianity that we often forget we’re even swimming in them.
The values we cherish.
The institutions we depend on.
The language of justice and dignity we so often take for granted.
They didn’t emerge from nowhere.
They were seeded by the life and teachings of a carpenter from Nazareth. They were watered through centuries of faithful men and women who walked in His way.
So imagine with me for a moment: What if Jesus never came? What if the Church never existed?
No Imago Dei. Without the foundational Christian belief that every human is made in the image of God, where would human equality stand? In ancient Rome, unwanted infants were left to die on trash heaps. It was Christians who first rescued them. It was Jesus who declared the worth of children, women, the poor, and the outcast. Not just by word, but by deed.
No abolition of slavery. William Wilberforce didn’t rise up because of politics, he rose because of Christ. Fueled by Scripture and supported by the Clapham Sect, he spent 46 years fighting to end the transatlantic slave trade. That fight began in the gospel.
No civil rights movement. The echoes of the Sermon on the Mount are all over Martin Luther King Jr.'s work. His cry for justice was not rooted in rebellion, but redemptive love. "We will wear you down by our capacity to suffer," he preached. That’s not secular ideology. That’s cruciform courage.
No hospitals. During the plagues of the Roman Empire, while others fled the cities, Christians stayed. They cared for the dying. They buried the dead. Basil of Caesarea opened the first true hospital in the fourth century. Fast forward: Florence Nightingale, the mother of modern nursing, was driven by her Christian convictions. The Red Cross? Founded by a Christian, Henry Dunant.
No universities. Oxford. Cambridge. Harvard. Yale. All began as institutions for theological education. Christians believed God’s world was knowable because God is rational. They didn’t fear science. They pioneered it. Think Johannes Kepler, Blaise Pascal, Gregor Mendel, men of science and faith.
No organized compassion. Think of Compassion International. World Vision. The Salvation Army. These weren’t corporate PR campaigns. They were acts of love from people compelled by Christ to care for “the least of these.” Mother Teresa’s life wasn’t one motivated by humanitarianism. It was a life crucified with Christ.
No concept of human rights. The very notion that all lives have value, that the poor, disabled, unborn, elderly, and imprisoned are worthy of protection, did not come from secularism. It came from the scandalous idea that the God of the universe put on flesh, stepped into our mess, and called every soul precious.
As C.S. Lewis put it:
"When you are arguing against Him, you are arguing against the very power that makes you able to argue at all."
THE FRUIT WE STILL ENJOY
Even as the world tries to walk away from God, it still clings to His fruit.
We want justice without the Judge.
Mercy without a standard of goodness.
Equality without a reason for it.
Hope without the resurrection.
But here’s the truth:
You can’t remove the roots and keep the fruit.
You can’t erase Jesus and expect to keep justice, mercy, and faith.
You can’t burn the map and expect to arrive at beauty.
And here’s where it gets personal:
You and I are part of this story. We are stewards of what’s been handed down. We are links in the chain. Carriers of light in an increasingly cynical age.
So let me ask you this:
Where has God placed you?
Not by accident…but by design.
Where do you spend your days?
Who has He put in your path?
What gifts has He entrusted to your hands?
Because the same God who used uneducated fishermen to change the world can use you in your neighborhood.
In your workplace.
In your city.
In this generation.
BUILDING REDEMPTION
Jeremiah 29:7 wasn’t written to people living in comfort.
It was written to exiles.
To people who had been uprooted, displaced, and were longing to go home.
God said:
“Seek the welfare of the city… for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”
In other words:
Don’t just complain about where you are.
Don’t just long for rescue.
Plant gardens.
Build homes.
Start businesses.
Raise families.
Bless your neighbors.
Work for peace.
Do good.
Because this is what God’s people have always done.
We build in Babylon. We plant in Egypt. We shine in the dark. We don’t retreat.
We rebuild ruins.
We bind up the brokenhearted.
We push back darkness.
A FINAL CHARGE
You’re not here by accident.
You weren’t born in the wrong era. You aren’t trapped in the wrong time.
You are exactly where you are meant to be.
At this moment in history. With your exact story. With your particular gifts.
God didn’t give you your gifts on accident. He didn’t forget how he intended to use you.
So live like it.
Don’t let cynicism steal your assignment.
Don’t let comfort lull you to sleep.
Don’t let the culture dictate your convictions.
Live like Jesus matters
Live like His way is better
Live like history bends toward Him
You want to be on the right side of history? Walk with the God who writes history.
Build beauty.
Speak life.
Carry light.
Write truth.
Raise families.
Launch businesses.
Create wonder.
Show up.
You’re standing in a long line of Jesus-followers who changed the world staying faithful to their post.
It’s your turn.
Be found faithful.
Be fully deployed for the sake of the Kingdom.
Be His man. Be His woman.
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