Being 'in the world' but not 'of the world'

It’s a common phrase, but it isn’t in the Bible, although the gist is there:

John 17:11
I [Jesus] will remain in the world no longer, but they [followers] are still in the world...

John 17:16
They [followers] are not of the world, even as I [Jesus] am not of it.

John 17:18
As you [Father] sent me [Jesus] into the world, I have sent them [followers] into the world.

Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

The usual understanding I hear from this passage is how we are to be ‘set apart’ from the world in such a way that we keep ourselves pure, with all the ‘evil’ on the outside, away from us. It sounds reasonable.

The way it is put into practice is a little different, both from my own experience and also from what I’ve seen around me. Because we are to ‘let our light shine’ (Matt 5:14-16), we make sure the image we give to others is as perfect as we can make it. We know that on the inside we need a lot of work, but we try to allow God to deal with that whilst giving off a good image. It’s as if we don’t want our impurities and imperfections to get in the way of:

1. How others view us (our own self-image)
2. Other people coming to know Jesus (they will think us a hypocrite and choose not to believe)

Herein lays the problem.

1. We know we’re not perfect.
2. Other people know we’re not perfect.
3. God knows we’re not perfect.

So what are we trying to prove? God works with our imperfections, both within ourselves (to make us better people) and through our interactions with others. We must remember that what we do is not in our strength, but His. We don’t have anything to prove; nothing to boast about. The image we give to others isn’t about how good we can make it look; it’s all about how God wants other people to see it. We don’t actually have anything to do with it. Some people care so much about the way they look to others, I wonder if they realise the people they ‘impress’ are only a very small minority. If we honour God, we can let Him do the hard work!

I felt it important to say that, but what I really want to have a brief look at is what it actually means to be ‘in the world’ but not ‘of the world.’ It’s not about giving off an image, and it’s not about being so different from others that they just avoid us. God never intended Christians to be crackpots! We did that on our own. So I want to suggest something a little different.

Instead of distancing ourselves from everything around us, I believe we should be taking an interest in it. We should do our research. We should get involved with things – I don’t just mean having secular jobs, I mean getting involved with our communities. Maybe this means being part of a sports club, going to the gym with a few mates, going to that walking group we’ve kept putting off, taking up a new hobby – it could be anything! We must remember that we are in the world!

Maybe it means it’s okay to be interested in Harry Potter. Maybe it’s okay to laugh at a crude joke. Maybe it’s okay to do something which doesn’t seem particularly spiritual. I really don’t think God minds.

But the important thing to remember is the reason why we do the things we do. I believe this is the heart of the matter: our attitude. There’s no point in making ourselves look good and pure if our motives are selfish or unloving. There is no problem with doing ‘worldly’ things as long as we don’t neglect God or other people. We need to remember what must take priority in our lives. By being ‘in’ the world, we can show others that they, too, do not need to be ‘of’ the world. Maybe together we can change the world.