When the System Is Rotten, Do We Surrender or Build?

There’s a dangerous kind of wisdom that sounds like experience but is really just resignation.

"Tony, we are peculiar. Our media space is rotten. Even if you try to do things the right way, it won’t make much of a difference. It’s better left unsaid and undone. In time, things will fix themselves."

These words came from a fellow believer. A voice of reason. Yet, beneath the calm reasoning is a deeper problem: a belief that things are too far gone to change. That we must adapt to the rot rather than challenge it. That silence and inaction are, somehow, the wiser path.

It’s a mindset shaped by years of watching negativity thrive, by seeing good intentions crushed under the weight of corruption and dysfunction. It’s understandable… but it’s also a lie.

Darkness Doesn’t Fix Itself

Jesus called His followers the light of the world (Matthew 5:14-16). Light doesn’t negotiate with darkness, it overcomes it. The argument that "things will sort themselves out" is an illusion. Nothing changes unless someone decides to change it.

History has never been shaped by people who sat back and waited. It was shaped by those who refused to accept the status quo. People like Daniel, who stood firm in a corrupt Babylonian system and influenced kings. People like Nehemiah, who saw the broken walls of his city and didn’t wait for a miracle, he built.

Faith Without Works Is Dead

"Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." (James 2:17)

A system is only as rotten as the people who allow it to remain that way. If we, as believers, decide that the right thing "won’t make a difference," then we’ve already lost the battle. We are called to be builders, reformers, and innovators, not passive observers.

Joseph didn’t become a leader in Egypt by blending in. Esther didn’t save her people by staying silent. Paul didn’t spread the gospel by avoiding conflict. Each of them stepped into hostile systems with the understanding that God works through those who act in faith.

If We Don’t Build, Who Will?

The media space is broken? Then build something better. The culture is toxic? Then create an alternative. We don’t get to complain about how bad things are if we’re not willing to be part of the solution.

Yes, it will be hard. Yes, the system will resist. But that is exactly why faith is required. Because God doesn’t call us to what is easy, He calls us to what is necessary.

So, the real question isn’t whether the system is rotten. The real question is: Will we be the hands and feet of Christ in a broken world, or will we choose comfort over calling?