“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.“

John 17:14-16

“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

1 John 2:15

Followers of Jesus Christ – sit up and take notice! The verses quoted above are words spoken by Jesus Himself and are of the utmost importance to us in coming to an understanding of our role “in” the world. Jesus gives explicit instructions concerning the believer’s behavior in, and attitude of, the world and the things of the world.

To understand Jesus’ words properly, it is imperative that we strive to understand His use of the word “world”. There are three different ways “world” is used in Scripture. First, “world” is used in reference to the creation – heaven and earth. John says that Jesus “was in the world, and the world was made through Him” (John 1:10). This is clearly a reference to the creation: the world being representative of the physical earth.

Second, “world” is used in reference to the people who inhabit the world. Reading further in John 1:10, we are told that Jesus “was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.” Here we see two distinct meanings of the “world”. The first, as stated above, is a reference to the creation, but then the statement, “the world did not know Him”, is a clear reference to people who have the ability to “know” Jesus.

And third, “world” is used to refer to the world’s system(s). It is representative of those ideological, philosophical, theological systems of belief that determine how one views the world. Thus, the words of Jesus quoted above, telling us that we are not to love the world or the things of the world. Why? Simple: to do so pits one against God, as the “world’s” ways are in direct opposition to God’s ways.

This presents the believer in Jesus Christ with a constant source of friction. We live in the world: the physical world of creation, and the world of humanity. We are bombarded with ideological shifts, philosophical shifts, cultural shifts, societal shifts, etc., which are all capable of causing major shifts in the way we think, believe, and behave.

For the believer in, and follower of, Jesus Christ, we are to go to the Bible for our beliefs and behaviors. We are to look at everything through the lens of Scripture, determining how we are to live our lives in light of cultural and societal shifts that are contradictory to the teachings of the Bible. If culture or society tells us something is right, but the Bible clearly states that it is wrong, we are to follow the teachings of Scripture.

I am fully aware that there are multitudes who would argue against my assertions. Some would say that the Bible was written to different people, in a different place, during a different historical era, for a specific purpose relative to them, there, and then. Thus, it has no significance for us today, since we are not them, and not there, and not then.

But for believers, we are to understand that the Bible is God’s Word, and it is eternally the same. If God said that something was sinful for them, there and then, then it is still sinful for us, here and now. The dictates of Scripture do not change with the ebb and flow of cultural change, but is constant, unchanging, and settled. Therefore, what the Bible calls sin is sin, at all times, in all places, among all people. Cultural and societal shifts that would state otherwise must be rejected by those who identify themselves as disciples of Jesus Christ.

We live in a world of constant change. Believers are admonished to guard themselves against the onslaught of the world’s systemic shifts that would lead us to embrace beliefs and practices that are clearly forbidden in Scripture. But to be a true disciple of Jesus means that we submit ourselves to the authority of His Word and obey Him rather than the world.

We live in the world, but we do not have to be part of the world. Let’s commit ourselves to the clear teachings of Scripture. Let’s be in the world, letting His light shine through us to the world, so that we can be a viable witness for the world. Blessings!