Being IN the World But Not OF the World

You have been placed in the world in this particular time and your unique location for God’s purposes.  Jesus reminds us that we do not belong to the world, for He has chosen us “out of the world.”  And, Jesus says because we belong to Him, we will experience resistance and sometimes outright hostility from the world.

Jesus warned His disciples in His final teaching and warns us that we should not be surprised at this enmity--being on the receiving end of the world’s antagonism should not be a reason for us to flag in our faithfulness to Him.  Lest this lesson be completely discouraging, Jesus adds that He has provided this caution so that in Him we “may have peace.”  He reassures us that He has “overcome the world.”

If we experience “trouble” it is because Jesus says we are not of the world any more than Jesus Himself was of the world. He loved the world.  He engaged with the world—with those who followed Him, with those who believed Him, with those who opposed Him, with those who clamored for His death. But, Jesus was not “of” this world.

Jesus then prays: “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one…As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” We, too, are not to remove ourselves entirely from the world but, as Jesus did, love the world, engage with the world in all its diversity, and trust God to protect us from the enemy who will try to prevent our success.

We straddle that line of being called to work and be fruitful in this world—to be God’s agents of reconciliation and love and forgiveness--but know that we are chosen out of the world as distinct from it—with our primary allegiance to Jesus (See John 15:18-25;  John 16:1-6, 33; John 17:13-19).

Where have you encountered opposition to your God-given purpose and calling? Where have you experienced Jesus’ peace and the clear sense that He has overcome the world? In what way/s can you be IN the world but not OF the world as Jesus was? How can you love the world while keeping your allegiance to Jesus?

Shirley Giles Davis, author of the God. Gifts. You. Your Unique Calling and Design workbook, Your Unique Design Class Guide, Your Unique Design Facilitator Guide, and Gifts-Calling-Purpose blog, is a consultant, coach, facilitator who has worked with faith-based organizations, nonprofit agencies, and leaders in a diversity of fields for over 30 years. She has also been EquipConnectServe Director at her 1,200 member church since 1999.

Photo © Shirley Giles Davis, all rights reserved.