Skip to main content

In This World... Not of it.

What does that phrase mean? I've heard a lot of interpretations. One is that we, as Christians, should shy away from any and all influences of this world. We should not listen to any non-Christian music, we should not watch TV shows that do not have a "redeeming" purpose, and so on. While this is a worthy idea, it's not exactly sustainable. It also does not give us the ability to be "in this world" and instead creates a wall between Christians and "the world." This divides us from all others. If we are divided, separated, from the rest of the world, how can we possibly serve it?

 I've recently come to believe that "in the world, not of it" has a much deeper meaning than simply avoiding the sinful influences of the world. The world, especially now, will have us believe that we are in constant danger. There is a continual bombardment of messages telling us how bad the world is now. We are told that Muslims are the enemy. Immigrants are stealing jobs. People are abusing welfare so that they can be lazy and get paid to literally do nothing. Men will abuse the open policy that places like Target have announced - the one that states transgender people can use whichever bathroom they need/want. There is danger lurking around every corner and we must be afraid. Allow me to drop a Yoda quote here:
Photo source

 Let's use this as an allegory, wherein "the dark side" stands in for "that which is opposed to God." So now, Master Yoda's quote reads: Fear is the path to that which is opposed to God. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. But, why suffering? If we allow ourselves to succumb to the fear that the world is telling us to have, and that fear leads to anger and then to hate, hate is "that which is opposed to God." Because, you see, God is love. When we are led to hate, we become separated from God. When we are separated from God, we suffer - spiritually most of all, but also in mind and body. We simply cannot live apart from God.

 If we are of this world, we allow the fear of this world to take over. When we are afraid of something, it makes us angry. Anger, when left unchecked or when stirred enough, turns to hate. Hate is "that which is opposed to God", love. (I'm repeating myself, but this is something that bears repeating)

 How do we remain "in this world, not of it" in the face of so much telling us to be afraid? We remember that God has continually told people "do not be afraid" in the Bible. God still speaks to us and tells us to not be afraid. You can find some form of the phrase "don't be afraid" in the Bible over 100 times! 
Photo source
Every bit of me believes that when God says "don't be afraid! I have this," that God really does have it. What do I have to be afraid of if God is in charge of everything? If we allow fear to take over, then we head down a dark path. We begin heading down a path that leads us away from God. It may be bit by bit, slowly but surely, but we are being led away nonetheless. For once we hold onto fear, we have placed our treasures on earth, we have lost sight of our true home. The Christian life is not one of ease and comfort, but it shouldn't be a life of fear, and definitely not one of anger or hate. 

 We are all in this world. We need to turn our trust and hope to the Lord, fear not, and resist being of this world.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Messes

I've been helping to straighten out the supply closets at my church. There is an abundance of items, from chalk, to tape, googly eyes, to thread. It's been a slow process for Laura, who started this project. I volunteered to take a lump of seemingly hopelessly tangled embroidery floss and thread home with me and turn it back into useful supplies. Some of them were easy to free from the mess. They immediately got wound onto a cardboard bobbin. Others were ridiculously tangled. Some pieces really weren't useful, but they still needed to be untangled from the mess before being tossed away. There was a particularly difficult brown thread. At one point, someone suggested that I simply cut the portions of the thread that was so tangled. But, then it would be less useful for whatever purpose it would be selected for. Instead, I took about 30 minutes to untie, untangle, and unwind the thread from itself.  Life can feel like that lump of str...
Post a Comment
Read more

Easter Egg Dyeing Party - Reflections

This one goes in the books as a "must do again"! We had a lot of fun, especially for something that got thrown together last-minute. For this year's party (which was actually more of a hang out), I bought the following: 25 clear plastic party cups (5 ounces) 1,000 toothpicks (I thought it said 100 - oops!) 100 vinyl non-powdered gloves 5 dozen eggs 1 gallon of vinegar (this was entirely too much!) 2 boxes of regular, assorted food dye 1 box of Neon food dye (We need at least 2 boxes) 1 party size bag chips 4.5 dozen cookies plastic tarp/sheeting plastic tablecloth shaving cream crayons gemstone stickers I found a chart for a lot of different colors you could make with food dye plus water & vinegar. I printed that out and one of the teens happily took charge of counting out the 20 or more drops of dye for each color. These produced wonderfully vibrant colors on the eggs. I showed the youth how to draw on the eggs with crayon which would le...
Post a Comment
Read more

New directions

I wanted to quickly check in with you - my readers - since I haven't posted for a while. I am currently not in a ministry leadership role. I am also not currently looking for one. This is not permanent. There are simply a few things that need to be situated before I can faithfully pursue ministry.  I am working on beginning a young adult ministry at my congregation. That is very, very part time. Right now, we are focusing more inwardly. The current plan is to minister to the college-aged young adults in our congregation- through encouraging notes, midterms & finals care packages, and birthday surprises. There will also be activities for breaks, especially the longer ones. As for this blog, I want to start posting original stories, reflections, devotions, and thoughts about selected scripture. I may also post personal reflections of my life/experiences through the lens of theology. I'm not going to commit to a definite posting schedule, but I intend to post at least once...
Post a Comment
Read more