The World Is Broken But Getting Better
5 min read | 30 April 2024
The impact-driven life requires seeing the world as it truly is.
The Christian who wants to change the world needs to understand these truths about it:
1) The world is broken.
2) The world is improving.
3) The world could be much better.
All three statements are true at the same time. But we often stumble by fixating on only one statement and neglecting the other two.
In this article we discuss each of these:
Yes the world is flawed, because perfection is unattainable on this side of Heaven. (Isaiah 64:6, Romans 8:20-21)
But in many ways the world is becoming more peaceful, safe and just.
We can use our careers to tackle the problems that remain.
Sin and suffering are part of the fabric of our post-Fall world.
Our post-Fall world is deeply broken in countless spiritual and physical ways.
These include:
Lack of Access to the Gospel ✝️
More than 2.2 billion people in the world have no access to the gospel and, unless something changes, will likely not have a chance to respond to it in their lifetime.
(Click here to read our full report on missions.)
Global Poverty 💔
Over 600 million people still live in extreme poverty (under $2.15 per day), per the World Bank.
(Click here to read our full report on global poverty.)
Easily Preventable or Treatable Diseases 🦠
About 5.2 million children under the age of five die each year, largely due to preventable causes.
(For more on easily preventable or treatable diseases read our full report.)
To read about other problem profiles click here.
These are all examples of how the world is immensely imperfect and in desperate need of help.
This shouldn't surprise us.
The Bible tells us that perfection is unattainable on this side of heaven—humanity lives in a fallen world, as we each individually fall short (Romans 3:23). Perfection is something we look forward to in heaven (Revelation 21:4).
God ultimately overcomes sin and death through Christ, whose death on the cross inaugurates a new creation.
While Christians cannot completely erase sin and suffering (only God can do this in the new Heavens and new Earth), followers of Jesus are Christ’s ambassadors, agents of God’s renewal in this broken world.
The world is becoming more peaceful, safe and just.
We live in a cynical age where most people think the world is getting worse, not better.
For instance, in a 2016 survey conducted by YouGov, a renowned global public opinion firm, individuals across 17 nations were asked about their perspective on the trajectory of the world. They were asked: “All things considered, do you think the world is getting better or worse, or neither getting better nor worse?”
The majority (58%) thought the world was getting worse. Only 11% held the view that the world was getting better.
These 11% were right. The world is, in fact, getting better.
Here are a couple of reasons why:
The Gospel is spreading:
Although many do not know Christ, there are most likely more Christians alive than ever before.
The whole Bible has now been translated into more than 700 languages, and the Gospels into thousands more.
Thousands of people are finding their way to Christ with the help of impactful church-planting organizations who are reaching the unreached through financially supporting local missionaries in India.
Consider this report of one church-planting organization we interviewed, 500k:
“Worship meetings are happening in 3,754 villages. Across those villages there's just over 38,000 people attending those worship meetings. And 14,800 people are at the point where we'd say, this is a baptized church member.”
There are also other impactful missional organizations that are using new technology to help millions of people grow in their faith in innovative ways.
These include:
Meanwhile, there are many more missional startups being founded.
Check some of these out on Missional Labs’ portfolio—an accelerator that supports leaders working on innovative approaches to Christian missions (and which Christians for Impact was recently part of).
Global poverty is decreasing:
Over one billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty even while the world's population has increased by 2.5 billion people.
This chart shows that in 2018, the share of people living in global poverty decreased to 10.01% of the world’s population:
Health is improving:
We're making really good progress on eliminating some of the most deadly parts of life, like malaria, undernourishment and air pollution. (source: Giving What We Can)
This chart shows that malaria deaths have been almost halved in just 15 years:
Change is possible because God has been working through people everywhere to expand the reach of the Gospel, to discern new technologies and medicines, and bring about greater justice and peace.
Although the world is progressing positively in many serious ways, serious problems persist.
The world could be much better – through your career impact.
We’re not sure why God doesn’t immediately solve all global problems through His almighty power. But we are confident that He wants to work through Christians to tackle them in ways that do good for the world and glorify Him.
Here’s our top advice on how to make the world better:
Choose a career that is centered around one of the world’s most important and neglected problems:
These include:
Careers are long, 80,000 hours long; that’s 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year for 40 years. This means that your choice of career might be the most important resource God has given you for living a meaningful and impactful life.
It’s worth spending time to make sure you choose the right career.
You can click here to find the best job boards based on these problem profiles—there are numerous opportunities out there for you.
Or pursue a high-income earning career so that you can effectively donate.
Not sure where to give? Here are our recommendations of some of the most effective charities to support:
With our ongoing efforts we can continue to make this world a better place.
In fact God calls us to press on until we attain perfection in heaven:
Paul models this when, in Philippians 3:14, he says:
“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
To summarize, to pursue an impact-driven life, you need to understand these three truths:
Yes the world is flawed, because perfection is unattainable on this side of Heaven.
But in many ways the world is becoming more peaceful, safe and just.
There are numerous opportunities to use careers to tackle what remains.
Need help discerning your career? Check out our free one-on-one impact mentorship here.
