CHRISTIANNEWS.COM.- “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him,” 1 John 2:15.
You’ve probably heard a thousand times that Christians are supposed to be “in the world, but not of it.” But what does that look like? How can we interact with lost people without being influenced by the unbelief and hostility toward God that is prevalent in our culture?
In John 17:14 Jesus says, “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they are no more of the world than I am of the world.”
It is much like a boat on the water. The ship is designed to float on the water, to be in the water, surrounded on all sides. But there must be no water in the boat.
Our goal as followers of Christ is to actively engage our culture with the Gospel, without allowing the ungodly morals, values, attitudes, and behaviors of the culture to infiltrate our lives. Unfortunately, many sincere Christians struggle to get it right.
3 Ways Christians Relate to the World
1. Separated from the world
Some of us pull our boats out of the water all together. Our intentions are good. We want to protect ourselves and our families from the sin of the world.
Granted, it’s easier to live by God’s standards if we distance ourselves from the influence of the world. But there is a big problem with that. In doing so, we also remove the influence of Christ from the world.
Jesus calls us to go out into the world and take the Gospel ( John 17:14-18 ), not to take refuge in a hallowed bunker.
2. Commitment in one or more areas
Others of us launch our boats into the culture, but because we don’t adequately protect ourselves from its influence and guard against sin, we end up drinking water.
Some believers simply raise their hands in surrender without even trying to live by God’s standards. Following Christ may seem “too hard,” “too boring,” or just “too weird.”
But most of us commit little by little. Often we don’t even realize it’s happening. We’re straddling the fence around here.
We give a little in another area around there. Sometimes we even compromise with God’s sacred standards in a misguided attempt to be “relevant.”
3. Living by God’s standards in the world
It’s true that being in the world but not liking it can be brutally difficult, much like rowing a boat up a river. In fact, some days it can be more like trying to climb Niagara Falls in a barrel.
So how can we live in a way that impacts the world for Christ, without allowing the world to impact us? We find two key biblical principles in the very passage that coined the phrase “in the world, but not of it.”
The following passage is part of a prayer that Jesus prayed for his disciples the night he was betrayed:
“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, just as I am not of it. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For their sake I sanctify myself, so that they too may be truly sanctified.«, (John 17:15).
conclusion
First, we must protect our hearts and lives from temptation. Take an inventory of your life. Where are you weak? In what areas do you feel most tempted?
Ask God to help you identify those weaknesses and then take steps to protect them. Take precautionary measures. Find a responsible partner. Remove from your life the things that constantly provoke temptations. Patch the holes in your boat!
Second, immerse yourself in the Word of God. Know the truth inside and out so he can know lies when he hears them. Obey what God shows you in his Word so that your life is holy and blameless. Then put your boat in the water! There are some drowning souls that need to be rescued.
Written by: Kathy Howard in Crosswalk.
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