In the world but not of it..

As a Christian I feel a pull from the other Christians that I know to be separate from the world. It’s a strange business really because culture has such a huge input into what being a Christian even means. For instance if you were to compare a Christian from New Zealand to a Christian from Afghanistan. You would likely find the Christian from Afghanistan to be much more conservative in their outlook.

The way they dress, attitudes toward women and children. I would imagine that they would have much more in common with other Afghani citizens than they would to New Zealand Christians and visa versa. So really the society that we live in determines many of our perspectives on life. For instance how Christians in New Zealand view and use birth control or how we view the place of women leading in the Church is distinctively Western in nature.

Which is interesting because in relation to birth control some refuse to use it citing scripture to advocate having as many children as God gives them while others have no compunction in limiting the number of children that they have. Bearing in mind that women with a knowledge their menstrual cycle can to a large extent regulate the number of children they have simply by not copulating at certain times.

What I’m talking about here is the hypocrisy or paradox of how we may advocate one thing and yet because of the pull of the world against us or, even simply because we bow to our carnal nature. We actually purposefully don’t do what we advocate at a more spiritual level. Hence we perhaps believe we shouldn’t limit the number of children we have but we use birth control to limit that number anyway because we may feel we could not financially afford to have more children or, for some other reason.

There are many other issues in life that a similar type of hypocrisy applies too. How we dress compared with what the bible has to say about that. The language we use in relaxed settings with non Christians or whether we smoke or drink in certain situations. Our interests in worldly pursuits for instance can certainly fall into the area of being in the world and of it as opposed to being in the world and not of it. Hence Christians in the Western World look like non Christians in the Western World and not like Christians globally.

I’m not claiming to perfect in this regard. Quite the opposite in actual fact. I’m writing this piece to establish what I actually think about the issue of ‘being in the world but not of it’ and how I measure up and what or how I need to change myself. For instance I practice a form of escapism by reading science fiction. What I read is errant rubbish but it is interesting and distracting. I probably read it to avoid being trapped in the harsh reality of life. This world is a long way from the paradise that God intended in the beginning. Excuses I know and you would think that being a Christian that escapism would be the last thing I would be doing. But there you have it. It is what I do but not perhaps the side I would show to my brothers and sisters in Christ.

I guess that what I’m saying here is that although as Christians we are all called to be a temple of the living God, to sanctification. We are inexorably drawn to being sinful and stuck at times in the human condition. Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...” NKJV Thus as the apostle Paul said of himself in Romans 7:15 “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do...” NKJV Hence while intending to be in the world and not of it we are instead in the world and of it.

 
Sadly it all so plain to view under the clear light of God’s Word. Yet as Christians we are more than capable of deceiving ourselves that we are right before God and that we have little to achieve before we are without blemish in His sight. In reality we are more often in the situation described by the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 64:6 “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”NIV

So what can we do about this terrible situation of ‘Being in the world and of it.’ Well sack cloth and ashes and fasting in ultimate humility before the Lord has always seemed to work in the past. I do think though that a contrite heart and humble spirit could be the start of a solution here. There is a three step solution in fact. Firstly, identify the things in your life that are at odds with scripture and bring them to God in prayer. Secondly, acknowledge that these things need to change and it will require a change of attitude at heart to bring that change to be a reality. Thirdly, ask God for the power to bring about that change of heart but understand that it is you that must make the change.

A friend said to me a while ago that we all have will but that it is about how much of our will aligns with the ‘Will of God.’ You can’t say Lord help me not to be a glutton,’ and then decide to eat a 4 litre tub of ice cream. You know God doesn’t want you to be a glutton. So you don’t buy a 4 litre tub of ice cream in the first place. Then you’re aligning your will with God’s. Ultimately sanctification and ‘Being in this world and not of it.’ Comes down to hard work and the God given ability to resolve to abide by God’s will. It is not easy for the Christian but it is necessary. I guess I have my answer then.