Audience: Who Do You Love? (Part 7: Indicators – Social Issue)

In 1791 Wilbur Wilberforce stood before the British Parliament and called for the abolition of the slave trade.  It seemed unimaginable that the legislators would outlaw a practice so critical to the economy of the British Empire.  He worked tirelessly for this cause.   Against all odds, an Abolition of the Slave Trade bill was passed less than twenty years later.  William Wilberforce died in July 1833, shortly after all slaves in the British Empire were given their freedom.

In 1968, Millard and Linda Fuller turned their backs on a millionaire lifestyle and rededicated their lives to God.  At Koinonia Farm in Americus, Georgia they launched a ministry where people in need of adequate shelter worked side by side with volunteers to build simple, decent houses.  In 1973 the couple successfully implemented this concept in Zaire, Africa.  In 1976 they began Habitat for Humanity International to build low cost housing for the poor.  By 2005, Habitat had built more than 200,000 houses, sheltering more than 1,000,000 people in more than 3,000 communities worldwide.

In 1981, Jody Williams was working for a temporary agency when someone handed her a leaflet in the subway.  She volunteered for humanitarian projects in Latin America where she met veterans seeking to ban land mines throughout the world.  In the early 1990’s, she founded the International Campaign to Ban Landmines that now works in over 60 nations.  In 1997 she and her organization won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Three stories of ordinary people who had an extraordinary impact. Why? Because they saw a problem that needed to be solved. There was something wrong that needed to be made right. The world could be a little bit better by serving others. These stories illustrate the power if having an Audience focused on a social issue

The chart below identifies three indicators that your Audience is a social issue. Notice your reaction to the descriptions of each indicator. Is one of them pointing the way to your Audience?

Repair
Look around you. Our world is broken. Poverty. Homelessness. Starvation. Unsanitary water. Divorce. Poor parenting. Irrelevant churches. Uninspired leadership. Need I go on? Is there something broken in the world that you long to fix? It may be something in your neighborhood, church, workplace, or on a broader scale. What is it that makes you cry out, “Somebody should do something about …” Maybe that person is you!

Replace
What could be made better in the world? Our schools? Homes? Government? Churches? Businesses? And many other social institutions. Maybe in your heart you sense a need to change what is into what it could be. You may have a picture in your mind about how some aspect of society could be made better. It won’t change by itself. If not now, when. If not you, who?

Restore
Life is unfair. Sometimes it seems that while “all men are created equal,” some are created “more equal than others. Is it possible that a value in our society needs to be restored – like freedom, equality, dignity, life, purpose, worship, and many others. What value seems to be missing in our society today? Is there something that used to be there “in the good old days,” but somehow has been lost along the way. Maybe you’re the one to restore it once again.

God put you on earth to make a difference for Christ. What difference are you making with your one and only life? Is there something God placed on your heart to repair, replace, or restore?

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