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To be sure, he says we can be "the salt of the earth" and "the light of the world." As such, we can indeed give the world a glimpse of kingdom life so that many will give glory to God (). But there's nothing there about the world being transformed. What Jesus wants us to do primarily, it seems, is to love those right in front of our noses.

I remain puzzled as to why we're so bored with the very things Jesus asks us to do, like picking that foreigner up out of the ditch, giving away our goods to the poor, going to court with a young man who's being railroaded by the system, taking an orphan into our home, going the extra mile with the oppressive and manipulative, forgiving the offender, baptizing, and witnessing. I find these things really, really hard to do. I fail all the time. If I can't even do these things well, why would I believe that I could transform my culture, let alone change the world?

Just because Jesus doesn't ask us to change the world doesn't mean, of course, that it's not going to eventually be transformed. Even the apostles knew they were incapable of making a heavenly kingdom out of this mess we call history: "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom?" While rightly anxious to see the world transformed, they knew who was responsible for transforming it.

In the meantime, we have our little jobs to do. And as Jesus put it, "Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" ().

Mark Galli is senior managing editor of Christianity Today and author ofJesus Mean and Wild: The Unexpected Love of an Untamable God (Baker 2006). You are invited to comment below or on his blog.

Copyright © 2007 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Sub-biblical Transformation, a Christianity Today editorial, dealt with the use of social psychology as the route to effective ministry.

Previous SoulWork columns include:

Grace—That's So Sick | The church seems to be an embarrassment to everyone except its Lord. (July 26, 2007)

We Are Not Pregnant | The glory of men and women lies in their unbridgeable differences. (July 12, 2007)

Seeker Unfriendly | We need more than worship that makes sense. (June 14, 2007)

The Cost of Christian Education | Getting schooled in the faith is more unnerving than I care to admit. (May 31, 2007)

Surviving a Family-Wrecking Economy | What the church can do about working mothers. (May 17, 2007)

The Real Secret of the Universe | Why we disdain feel-good spirituality but shouldn't. (May 3, 2007)

Peace in a World of Massacre | What Jesus calls us to when we're most frightened. (April 17, 2007)

The Good Friday Life | We need something more than another moral imperative. (April 4, 2007)

I Love, Therefore You Are | Why the modern search for self ends in despair. (June 28, 2007)

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August (Web-only) 2007, Vol. 51