“The tangled web of lies that constitutes much of our culture has a way of drawing us from the love of Christ. For example, I have written repeatedly about the modern narrative of “making the world a better place.” It has been a slogan, in one form or another, of virtually every program of mass murder in modern history. I have written carefully about it because it is among the more pervasive and widely accepted lies in the web that binds us. It provides cover for vast amounts of human activity in which we imagine ourselves to be doing “good” – but do so by false measures and in the service of a false vision. We have never been commanded to “make the world better.” Only God knows what would constitute “better.” We are commanded to do “good,” as measured by the teachings of the gospel.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“Certainly, we must do what we can to “make the world a better place.” But to cure the world of its corruption and to free the world from its subjection to sin and death is not within our power. On this earth, we must endure rather than conquer. But we should not persevere in resignation but in hope of the transformation of ourselves and the world into the new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21:1).” (Fr. Basil)
“There is a great need in this world for all of us to collective understand the necessity for personal repentance. It seems that more and more, people are demanding that those around them change, whether it is asking them to endorse something they are doing or not doing, or whether it is demanding something they feel entitled to…Rather than asking those around us to change their ways, if we want to make the world a better place, then we have to start by looking in the mirror and changing our own ways.” (Fr. Stavros N. Akrotirianakis)
“When we are always thankful, we are remembering that the world and the world’s system does not owe us. We are remembering that it is both God’s mercy and judgment that there is food on the table, that our children are relatively healthy, that we have a job, a home, or friends. None of these are guaranteed, and we will give an account to God for what we did or didn’t do with His blessings. When we forget to be thankful, we begin to think that it is the world and our place in the world that has brought about the relatively comfortable life we are experiencing. We begin to think that working for and fighting for a system, a government, a program is how we will make the world a better place or how we will keep the world from devolving into a worse place. When we forget to give thanks to God, God begins to feel distant to us; we start to think that maybe God doesn’t even care, that God doesn’t really matter that much.” (Fr. Michael Gillis)
“We can make the world a better place but usually not the way we think we can. It may sound trite nowadays to hear or say the words ‘change yourself and you’ll change the world’ but it is true. Striving to make the world a better place, despite how loving and nice this sounds, is actually a wrong-headed notion though it may be well intended. It is God’s job, not ours, though He will do it through us. First, we have to get the order of things correct. Our primary focus should be to have union with Christ to get our hearts right. When our hearts are right, we will think and act right and then God will make the world a better place through us. That’s why Christ commanded us to love another as He loved us. Having this as our primary focus will make the world a much better place.” (Sacramental Living Ministries)
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