Should we try to improve society and govenment if we are living in end times?

When talking to a friend recently about how we, as Christians, need to become more involved in influencing our society and government for good, I got a response that surprised me. My buddy told me that he didn’t want to become involved in such activity because he considered it futile since we are nearing end times. He went on to say and the Bible tells us, that Christians can expect persecution before Christ returns and, therefore, we should just learn to live with it. I really didn’t know how to respond to such rationale for staying uninvolved in getting our nation back on track, so I steered the conversation in a different direction. A few days later while reading Wayne Grudem’s book entitled Politics- According to the Bible, I came across what I thought was a reasonable response to my friend’s thoughts on this matter. Grudem states that no one knows when Christ will return or when the events preceding His coming will occur (Mathew 24:36; 25:13). He continues by stating that what we do know is that while we have opportunity, God tells us not to give up but to go one teaching “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). God also tells us to continue doing good works (Ephesians 2:10) and loving our neighbors as ourselves (Mathew 22:39). From these scriptures, I think we can infer that we should go on trying to influence society and government for good as long as we are able to do so. Grudem concludes by urging that if all Christians who have influenced governments for good in previous centuries had given up, then none of the good changes in laws and societies would have come about. Instead of giving in, previous generations sought to do good for others and for governments, and God often blessed their efforts. Do you believe that we should continue to try to do good for others and for governments despite the fact that that Jesus’ return may be eminent?