In the World but Not Of the World
Mindy Simmons
Many of us have heard the instruction that Christians are “in the world,” but should not be “of the world.” I’ve been taught that while we are stuck here on earth (sigh) we should be different than the world around us, and, maybe even more importantly, we should not let the evil of the world influence us. While I believe this is true, this explanation is incomplete.
We read in John 17:14-19, as Jesus prays to God the Father on the eve of His crucifixion:
“I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.”
It is clear that Jesus does not want His followers to be “of the world,” and neither was Jesus “of the world.” But notice that Jesus isn’t saying that “being not of this world” is the destination. Rather, it is the starting point. Jesus doesn’t ask God to take His disciples out of the world, and He prays for them as they are “sent into” the world.
We are called to be different than this world, yes. We should be! We have received grace and are saved into eternal life (Ephesians 2:8-9), we have hope that is only found in Christ (1 Peter 1:3, Matthew 19:26, Romans 15:13), we have joy despite our circumstances (James 1:2, John 16:24), we have a peace that surpasses understanding (Philippians 4:6-7), and the list goes on (Galatians 5:22-23). These things make us vastly different than the people in the world around us who don’t yet know Jesus as their Savior.
We see above in John 17 that Jesus prays for the disciples to be protected from the evil one (the devil), not from the humans around them who don’t yet know Jesus (see Ephesians 6:12). Further, Jesus prayed for the disciples to be sanctified (set apart; holy). We are called to walk closely with the Lord and continually invest in our relationship with Him.
Instead of huddling together as Christians inside the church building so we are “safe” and don’t get tricked by the evil world around us, we are sent into the world on mission for Christ. Instead of keeping to ourselves and simply waiting until we reach heaven, we are called to share Jesus with the world around us.
Maybe it would serve us better to revise the popular phrase “in the world, but not of the world” to instead be: “not of the world, but sent into the world.” This is the GO Principle in action. I pray that God would open our eyes to those He has placed in our traffic patterns who need to know this hope we have. And I pray that He will guide us as we show others His love, so they can also discover a new life in Jesus.