Day 16 – In…Not Of

(Jesus praying for His disciples) "I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth."
John 17:14-19

My dad was in the Air Force, so we traveled around a lot when I was a child. By the time I entered Middle School, I had attended 4 different elementary schools. Looking back on the experience, one of the things that I remember is always being the new kid. I consistently seemed to struggle fitting in with the other kids in my classroom. Over time, I stopped trying. For years, I would just blend into the background. I would show up for class, do my schoolwork, and then go back to the safety of my home. In Middle School and High School, I decided to change my approach and do whatever it took to fit in. I compromised in a lot of areas along the way that I still regret to this day. Looking back, I can see a lot of opportunities I missed, simply because I was too insecure to just be myself.

It seems as though there are a lot of times in the Christian life that we can easily become like I was growing up. If we’re not careful, we will swing to one of two extremes: either we will seclude ourselves from the world, going through the motions of life, but quickly retreating to the safety of our Christian friends and family, or we’ll compromise our beliefs in an effort to do whatever it takes to fit in with the culture around us. All the while, we are missing amazing opportunities for God to use us, simply because we are too insecure to just be the people God has called us to be – in the world, but not of the world.

As Jesus was praying for His disciples and for us in this beautiful prayer found in the book of John, we discover that His desire is for His followers to become change agents in this world. Jesus sets His followers up with the news that the world is not going to be pleased about the path that followers of Christ have chosen. In fact, the more we try to adhere to the standards that Jesus has laid out with His life and His teaching, the more our different values will become obviously counter-cultural. The world will, in fact, begin to hate us. And if you look at the world’s perception of Christianity in general, it is fair to say that this world does hate Christians and the faith they represent. And, according to Jesus, that means that we must be doing something right.

Sure there are those who hate Christianity because of all of the hypocrites, the scandals, the fallen within our ranks. But beyond these black eyes to the faith, our world is becoming increasingly anti-Christian. So what do we do?

We press on. We continue to allow God’s Word to change our beliefs, our values and our actions. We intentionally and unapologetically live a life of no compromise. We seek to be pure in thought, in word and in deed. And we engage this world, insisting with our lives and with our words that Jesus is better than anything this world can offer us. We pray for our fallen and encourage our weak. We press on into this world, not avoiding it, not compromising with it, but rather being, living, breathing, working and playing in the world. All the while, we are consistently loving and displaying our great passion for God and reinforcing at every fork in the road that we are not of this world. Our values are different. Our passions are different. Our reactions to the instabilities in life are different. We are in this world, but we are not of this world. And we are willing to love anyone along the way into this amazingly beautiful paradox.

As you pray, allow these thoughts to prompt your conversation with God.

• Thank God that He has created you to live a life of distinction in this world.
• Thank God for His Word that enables you to understand your distinction and empowers you to live out this Christ-following life.
• Ask God to continually make you aware of the areas of your life where you seem to be withdrawing from the world.
• Ask God to also make you aware of the areas of your life where you may be compromising with the world.
• Ask God to give you a resolve to press on and to be a person who represents Him no matter what the consequences are.
• Ask God to give you a heart of compassion for those in your life who don’t understand and possibly even hate what it is you stand for. Ask for opportunities to love them in spite of the way they treat you as a way of demonstrating this beautiful life in Christ.