Am I Making a Difference?

No, I am not having a pity party. No, I am not looking for compliments. I think sometimes we all need to do a little introspection to see if we are really making a difference in this world because isn't that what we are supposed to be doing? I read the Sermon on the Mount that way. We are the salt of the earth -- flavoring, preserving, changing the world. We are the light of the world -- illuminating the darkness of sin and pointing to salvation. The apostle Paul says that we are ambassadors of reconciliation -- bringing the lost world to Christ. We are supposed to make a difference in people's lives. We are to be change agents. Am I making a difference? Have I helped to "change" anything? As I look back over my almost 30 years of preaching and 23 years as a pastor, I have seen lots of things change. I've seen people saved. I've had the privilege of baptizing the very young and the very old. I've seen churches grow dramatically and not so dramatically. I've seen churches go through difficult times and experience the fires of revival. I've sat by bedsides of dying saints and offered comfort to families of people who didn't know where their loved one would spend eternity. I've walked with people through marital crises and family struggles. I've visited people in jail, in prison, in mental wards. I've cried for joy and wept in sorrow with my church family. There aren't many aspects of ministry that I have not experienced over the years, but I have come to this conclusion. I have not changed a single person. I do not have that ability. If my ministry has affected any change, it is because of the power of Christ working in me and through me. It is because the Chief of Change has used me as an instrument in His hand to make a difference. My prayer is that I will always be yielded to Him that He might make a difference in a world that desperately needs change.