I Want to Set the World on Fire

"I want to set the world on fire, 

Until it's burning bright for you.

It's everything that I desire,

Can I be the one you use?"

It's been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, here is what I say: one word is worth a thousand thoughts, a dozen of emotions, and countless meanings. Words can be that little match that starts an entire forest fire. Can you imagine it? Saying something, or writing something, that makes people question not only themselves, but you as well?

Everyone has that moment in life that sticks with them forever. There is that one thing that someone said to you, or something that you heard, that has shaped your life in a way that seems almost absurd. And no, I am not talking about the obvious things-like graduating from school, or going on a missions trip. Those things will shape your life forever and it's obvious. No, I am talking about those small, insignificant sentences that someone blurts out at a random, everyday moment. It shoots you in the heart and the bullet never leaves.

For me, it was a sermon about God's love that I heard in high school at a huge Christian youth rally. The man speaking pulled out a genuine one-hundred dollar bill, held it up to the crowd of several thousand students and said, "Who wants it?" At first, everyone looked around, confused. He proceeded, "No, seriously, I found this money on the floor, and I feel bad for keeping it. So, who wants it?" Of course, everyone in the audience, especially those people lucky enough to be sitting up front, stood up and waved their hands spastically in the air.

"Are you sure you want it?" he asked. "I mean, I found it on the floor. It probably has been stepped on, and their is a lot of dirt on it." The spasitc hand waving didn't stop, and it had morphed into screaming. One kid, at this point, was even standing on his chair and screaming "DUDE, I WANT THE MONEY!"

The speaker licked the hundred dollar bill. "Do you still want it?" The screams didn't cease. Everyone still wanted that money, really bad.

At the time, I didn't know why, but the speaker took the hundred dollar bill, put it in his mouth and chewed it. He spit it out, and while it was covered in saliva, he flattened back out and held it up. "Do you still want it?" The screaming didn't cease. Even though the money was dripping in spit, the value was still there.

The speaker then took the dollar bill, and ripped it a little bit. A little down the middle, ripped the two of the corners off, and some other random places on the side. Ripped just enough to look scraggly, but not ripped enough to lose it's value. "Do you still want it?" he asked. The screaming did not cease.

The speaker then took out a lighter and burnt the edges a little bit. Again, the money was burnt, but not enough to lose it's value. "Do you still want it?" he asked. The screaming did not cease.

He continued like this for several minutes, slowly making that hundred dollar bill more and more tattered. But never enough that it lost it's value, and the audience only became more anxious, and wanted that money even more.

Eventually it stopped, and the speaker looked out in the audience. He said, "God treasures you. He wants you more than anything. And just like you wanted this money, no matter how tattered, or dirty, or scarred. God wants you, no matter how tattered, or dirty, or scarred. Just like you all were screaming for this money, God is screaming for you. He wants you." By that point, the screaming had ceased.

It hit me hard. They were only spoken words. But, nevertheless, the hit me hard. What that speaker had only planned as a creative illustration for God's love, had been the match to my forest fire. I have never forget that speaker, or what he said. It has kind of stuck with me ever since then.

I hope I can be like that to other people. Unlike that speaker, I may never be in the position to talk to thousands of people at once, but that doesn't mean that people aren't listening. Whatever you say is heard. Whatever I say, is heard. I hope I can be that small voice in other's people's lives that tells them truth.

But be warned, what you say is not heard as coming from just another person on the street. It is heard as coming from a Christian. So be aware, that whatever you say, whether good or bad, can be the match that starts someone's forest fire. And that can be a positive or a negative thing.

Like I said before, can you imagine saying something, or writing something, that makes people question not only themselves, but you as well? I put the emphasis on the "you as well." part. Claiming yourself as a Christian makes you one of two things in this world: a leader, or an enemy. People will look at you differently, so be conscious of everything you say and do, because, to other people, it is a reflection of what you stand for, a.k.a. Jesus Christ.

Ecclesiastes 5:2-4 "Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers." It simpler terms, that means, watch what you say, and only speak what will build and comfort others, because you never know who is listening in. And you never know how that will affect them and their future walk with Christ.

So from here on out, I say that we, together, make a pact to be true lights of God through our speech and actions. Just as Colossians 3:8 says, "But now you are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, and filthy language out of your mouth."

Do you really want to give Jesus Christ a bad name by saying one small sentence and having it affect someone's life forever? 

Nope, I didn't think so. 

**I don't write this in a proud manner. I fail at this too often. I write this as humbly as possible. It is something I have reflected upon myself, and I wondered if others needed a helping hand as well.