“They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”
John 17:16
The relationship of the Christian to the world is one that is rather complex and, for that reason, open to a great deal of confusion. Clearly there is a distinction to be made between what it means to live “for Christ” and what it means to live “for” this world as if Christ did not exist. But what exactly is that difference? After all, we must live “in” this world. (Where else would we live?) But at the same time we cannot be “of” this world. “In the world, but not of it.” That’s how it’s usually phrased. But what does that mean?
First, let’s think about what Christ means by “the world.” He certainly does not mean the flowers and the trees, hills and seas. As Genesis 1 makes clear, we are certainly made “of” this world, formed by God’s hands from the dust of the earth. Nor does He mean the world of people in general, because we are people too, called to love and serve our neighbors for Christ’s sake. So what does Jesus means by “the world” we are not to be a part of? He means this world as it is in it’s rebellion against God – this world as it is when men and women live as if God did not exist and Christ had never come.
But of course Christ has come. He went to the cross to defeat our sins and bring us into a new life with God. And because that is true – and not only true in the sense of being a fact, but also true in the sense of being the central truth that governs our lives…! Because it’s true, we can never live as if it’s not true. We cannot live by the rules of a world in rebellion against God. We cannot chase the things they chase or love the things they love, if chasing those things means we leave Christ behind (1 John 2:15-17). All that we are and all that we do must be centered on Christ whom we call Savior and Lord. And so while it is true we must live in this present world (see John 17:18), we cannot be “of this world” in the way we live while we are here. In all we do, we must live for Christ.
We are in the world, but we cannot of it.
Pastor Scott