One sign read, “What the world needs is a great big group hug.” But then we’d have a problem getting everyone to agree where it should take place and when. This person would want to be in charge, but one group thinks their head should be the one to take the lead. The drive for a world-wide group hug would fall apart before it even got started.
But what would it solve anyway?
The Garfield comic strip for April 21, 2015, featured Jon asking Garfield the cat, “You know what the world needs?” Garfield’s reply was “Donuts so big you have to have heavy machinery to lift them.” Hmmm. That certainly sounds good, but not everyone would agree with that, either.
“What the World Needs Now Is Love” was a song made popular by Jackie DeShannon in 1965. Hal David wrote the lyrics and Burt Bacharach composed the musid. Their solution as to what the world needs was “love, sweet love.” According to their thinking, “It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.”
So, what does the world need? The answers to that question would be so wide and varied that we could never come to a consensus. If we got a little more serious, some would say that what we really need is a better education system or some new energy source. Maybe we need better diplomacy, better relationships between the nations, or simply a deeper understanding of each other—perhaps we wouldn’t be so quick to go to war. Some might say we need a way to wipe out hunger and poverty.
The Christian group Casting Crowns has a song in which they declare that what the world needs is a Savior. It’s a good song, but the world already has a Savior.
I realize that not everyone agrees, but I’ve got an opinion as well. I believe what the world needs is more committed followers of Christ who take seriously their calling, and who want others to know Christ regardless of where they live or what they look like. We need more churches who are not afraid of doing whatever it takes to win the lost. We need more parents who lead their families to serve Jesus. We need more people who are willing to stand up for what they believe. We need more prayer. We need more Bible study. We need more worship. We need. We need.
We need a lot of things. But since I can’t do anything about what the world needs, I guess I’ll just have to start with me.
And you? You’ll have to start with you.
May the close of every day find us a little closer to Christ and a little more committed.
And it starts with us.
--Rocky Henriques, www.uticabc.com