in not of

CS Lewis once said…

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

John 15:19

“19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”

The world was made good.  We broke it.  Sin broke the world.  God allowed this to happen.  I feel like I understand some of the why, but its undeniable that this world is broken, fallen under the shadow of sin.

As a writer I have long appreciated the emotional impact and imagery of “This world is not my home, I’m just passing through.”  But as I’ve gotten older I realize the logical truth of that statement.

We were made to be in close relationship with God.  But we cannot come close to God.  Why?  Because we are sinful?  Why is that a problem?  Because God cannot abide sin.  Oh.  Well that sucks.  So, what do we do?  Nothing.  What?  Yup.  Jesus paid the price for your sin, and now it has been cast out, thrown away, as far as the east is from the west.  Awesome.  Now you may approach God, because you have been declared righteous, blameless and clean.

So we can be with God.

But this world is still broken.  And now, like God, we cannot abide sin.  We, as declared righteous, blameless and clean, now long for a different place that fits with the new creature inside of us (John 3).  It is the salvation born within us that lives and breathes in our moments spent seeking after God.  And as much as we consciously seek after God, there also grows in us an unconscious, or perhaps semi-conscious appreciation, hunger, vision of, longing for something deeper, something more.  Our understanding of beauty deepens.  Our hunger for intimacy, honesty and vulnerability grows.

And as this happens, we feel our connections to the world slipping, changing, disappearing, or sometimes they put up a fight and get worse, stronger before they leave.  But if we persist in growing closer to God and closer to Heaven, our ties with this world will never look the same.

And I think that’s where a lot of us struggle.  Okay, so we’re Christians.  Now what?  How do we live in this world without being of it?

How do we follow God’s Word and Will in a world that is still broken?

-I think we need to first trust in God’s plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11).

-We need to constantly pray (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

-We need to feed ourselves with the Word (Matthew 4:4/Deuteronomy 8:3).

-Draw on the strength of being in close community with our brothers and sisters in Christ (Hebrews 10:24-25/Ecclesiastes 4:12).

-We need to tell people about God (Matthew 28:19).

It ain’t easy, but it is simple.  Love God.  Love people.  Everything else in your life is this, or flows from this.