In It But Not Of It
“We are supposed to be in the world but not of it but the Church has become of the world but not in it.”
In light of recent world events I've spent some time wondering how to respond or what to believe. I live in this world and must engage it so what is the most effective way to do so? What stance do I take? Here are some of the things I've realised.
1. I was placed here intentionally
For whatever reason, at the time I made a decision to follow Christ and gave my heart to him, he did not take me up to heaven to be with him instantly but allowed me to remain on earth. This tells me my presence here is intentional and engaging the world around me is crucial. I must accept that there are good people and there are bad people. There are good government structures and there are poor ones. There are thieves and there are givers. A society devoid of bad and evil is a utopia that does not consist of humans; therefore, if I live in a broken society it should not cause distress or alarm.
“I do not ask that You will take them out of the world, but that You will keep and protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world (worldly, belonging to the world), [just] as I am not of the world. Sanctify them [purify, consecrate, separate them for Yourself, make them holy] by the Truth; Your Word is Truth.”
2. I'm supposed to be Salt not Salty
Salt alone
““You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste (its strength, its quality), how can its saltness be restored? It is not good for anything any longer but to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men.” ”
What we often want to do as Christians is gather in a huddle and put a bubble of righteousness around us and wait with angst for Jesus to come take us away from this cruel world full of sin.
When you gather grains of salt together and leave them in the cupboard, the salt is useless! If you were to place food on a plate and place the salt of a separate part of the plate with the intent of eating the food and eating the salt separately, you would have an awful meal.
Salt In Food: In It But Not Of It
See, the salt is very different from the food but it only has use when it is in the food. In the food it brings out the flavours of the food. Eaten alone it is harsh to the taste and will be spat out. That is why we are likened to salt. As Christians, we are image bearers of God and this is what makes us so different from the world. This is what makes us not of the world. It's not our Christianese, or what we don't do anymore, or where we don't go anymore. We are to be completely different from the world (read the full definition of "of the world" in the additional reading section below) but it is only when we are in it that we are useful and can bring out the flavours of the world.
Salty
According to Urban Dictionary:
Salty: The act of being upset, angry, or bitter as result of being made fun of or embarrassed.
““I wrote you in my [previous] letter not to associate [closely and habitually] with unchaste (impure) people– Not [meaning of course that you must] altogether shun the immoral people of this world, or the greedy graspers and cheats and thieves or idolaters, since otherwise you would need to get out of the world and human society altogether””
See, when there's too much salt we ruin the food and people spit us out. If we stay in our little Christian bubble and make a fuss about how people dress, and how many tattoos they have and how much make-up they wear we are salty (pun intended). This is often because as we sit in our Clorox and Lysol clean Christian bubbles that must not be stained we secretly want to go out and roll around in the mud and get dirty like everyone else. So we pretend we don't want those things and are very judgemental towards Christians we think might actually be enjoying their Christianity because we are not. We are miserable and feel guilty for admitting it. It is for freedom that Christ set us free! Come out of your bubble and go into the mud to help those that are stuck because you were once stuck yourself.
3. I must reach out, I must GO!
Salt creates thirst! Our salt needs to create a thirst for the Living Water. This means, "It is your prerogative to impart to mankind (likened to arable land) the influences required for a life of devotion to God. Salt is a symbol of that health and vigor of soul which is essential to Christian virtue." We are to be agents of change in the world but we must come out of our clorox bubbles, put on our boots and roll up out sleeves and actually be in it without being of it to effect any change. Else, we are useless to the world! If you're looking for purpose in life, here is a good place to start: "And He said to them, Go into all the world and preach and publish openly the good news (the Gospel) to every creature [of the whole human race]."
4. I must Pray
Accepting that I am a change agent, I have realised that the single biggest thing we Christians can do for the world around us is to Pray for people. Not pray at them but pray for them. Regardless of my opinion of them, their character, or their competency, before I criticise or complain about any of my leaders, I've decided to take some time to pray for them instead. If they do well, the world around me does well too. According to Bill Johnson, "When you pray for an individual, you actually help to influence the atmosphere out of which they draw ideas. When we fail to pray for our leaders, we leave them to draw from the demonic [or evil]."
“The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live.”
This is how I believe we can respond to the world in such a time as this: Be in it (fully) but not of it!
Additional Reading
The long definition of "of the world"
Galatians 5:19-21 AMP ; Romans 1:29-32 AMP ; Colossians 3:5-9 AMP
"Now the doings (practices) of the flesh are clear (obvious): they are immorality, impurity, indecency, Idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger (ill temper), selfishness, divisions (dissensions), party spirit (factions, sects with peculiar opinions, heresies), Envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.... filled (permeated and saturated) with every kind of unrighteousness, iniquity, grasping and covetous greed, and malice. [They were] full of envy and jealousy, murder, strife, deceit and treachery, ill will and cruel ways. [They were] secret backbiters and gossipers, Slanderers, hateful to and hating God, full of insolence, arrogance, [and] boasting; inventors of new forms of evil, disobedient and undutiful to parents. [They were] without understanding, conscienceless and faithless, heartless and loveless [and] merciless. Though they are fully aware of God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them themselves but approve and applaud others who practice them...So kill (deaden, deprive of power) the evil desire lurking in your members [those animal impulses and all that is earthly in you that is employed in sin]: sexual vice, impurity, sensual appetites, unholy desires, and all greed and covetousness, for that is idolatry (the deifying of self and other created things instead of God). It is on account of these [very sins] that the [holy] anger of God is ever coming upon the sons of disobedience (those who are obstinately opposed to the divine will), Among whom you also once walked, when you were living in and addicted to [such practices]. But now put away and rid yourselves [completely] of all these things: anger, rage, bad feeling toward others, curses and slander, and foulmouthed abuse and shameful utterances from your lips! Do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old (unregenerate) self with its evil practices..."
What Makes Us Salt
The Bible says when we are saved we are made new creations. Well this means that the us that exists now did not exist before. We are completely different from our former selves.
““And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit.”
”
How? Adam and eve were created in God's image and likeness. After they sinned, man was then made in his father's image. Gen 5: 1 - 3. Adam was made in God's image but Seth was made in Adam's image.
When we become born again and are made new creations, we are reborn in God's image through Christ. How is this, you might ask? Jesus is the only begotten son of God and by his dying for us we are brought into a spirit of adoption and become children of God; therefore, as Christians it can be said of us that God begat us. Which means we are reborn into his image. Eph 1:5 (adoption); Gal 4:6 (sonship); Rom 8:15 (adoption to sonship). We become "of God" and his image bearers and this is what makes us salt. This is what makes us so different from the world. This is what makes us not of the world.
