Repairing the Word

One of the richest principles of Jewish ethics is a concept called tikkun olam, which loosely translates to "repairing the world." People know it best from the Aleinu, a prayer Orthodox Jews recite three times daily. The prayer Aleinu (“It is our duty to praise”) is the closing prayer of the morning, afternoon and evening service. It consists of two prayers, Aleinu and V’al Kein. Some believe Tanna Rav in the third century AD in Babylonia wrote Aleinu for Rosh Hashanah services. Rav was the first to institute the Aleinu into the service.  The full citation is l'takken olam b'malkhut Shaddai, often translated, "to perfect the world under God's sovereignty." Here is the immediate context of the prayer. 

Therefore we put our hope in You, Adonai our God,
to soon see the glory of
Your strength, to remove all idols from the Earth,
and to completely cut off
all false gods; to repair the world, Your holy
empire.

(http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/aleinu.html for the full, beautiful prayer.) 

Without the full context, one could assume tikkun olam is something we endeavor to do on our own, as though we were some sort of cosmic carpenter, well-stocked toolbelt buckled around our waist, as we endeavor to smooth out the rough spots on the planet. In fact -- as the words of the Aleinu make clear -- faithful Jews view all their good works as being carried out under the oversight and in the name of a loving God. They are not solo operators, but rather numberless laborers on the divine work crew, with the Lord as construction manager. God will repair the world through the faithful response of the people of God.

It is no different for Christians.