Christians: In The World, But Not Of It

Issues – October 2013 – Grace & Truth Magazine

CHRISTIANS:
In The World, But Not Of It

“Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” — Matthew 5:16 NIV

How sad that so many Christians become entangled in the affairs of this world not realizing that they are being co-opted by Satan in so doing! Satan’s purpose is to distract Christians from their God-ordained mission and employ them to do his work without realizing that they have been subverted. When Christians become so caught up in trying to make this world a better place to live they miss their true calling. When they become so enamored with this present world that they want to settle down here, they also become preoccupied with trying to make it a more suitable place to dwell permanently.

Of course many Christians don’t realize that in doing so they are working at purposes contrary to their heavenly calling as citizens of a different realm. In 1 Timothy 6:13, the Lord Jesus is said to have witnessed a good confession to Pontius Pilate when He said to him, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But My kingdom is not from the world” (Jn. 18:36 ESV).

Christians have not “made the good confession” (1 Tim. 6:13) when they fight to make a place in this world for Christ. Illustrative of this is the fruitless struggle to have the Ten Commandments inscribed on the walls of secular courtrooms. Where in Scripture is the warrant for this quest? Is it possible that our effort to have Christ enshrined in the institutions of our society is pursued as an act of contrition for not having Him enshrined in our hearts and lives? The Lord Jesus sought no place in this world for Himself when He was here and He certainly does not need it now for He has been exalted to the highest place in the highest glory (Phil. 2:9).

In Luke 20:43 the Lord Jesus Christ quotes King David’s prophecy of Him: “The LORD said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool’” (also Acts 2:35). He does not seek a place of honor in the shrines of the wicked, in the systems of this world. He has been crowned with glory and honor by God the Father – by the entire Godhead.

Too often such endeavors are really an attempt to make the world more amicable, more desirable to us, so that we might settle down more comfortably in it and enjoy our convenient, affluent lifestyle while we wait to be caught up into glory with Him. But this is not what we have been left here to do. The Lord said to His disciples in Luke 19:13, “Do business till I come!” That is, do His business as stewards entrusted with responsibility (Mt. 25). And having received a trust as stewards we are expected to be faithful in carrying out this trust (1 Cor. 4:2).

When we conduct campaigns and demonstrations to force the world to embrace Christian principles, as is illustrated by the demands from some quarters of the evangelical community that prayer be permitted in the public schools, we make ourselves adversaries of the very people to whom we have been sent to present the message of deliverance from the darkness. Indeed it is to our shame that we rather demand that non-Christians act as Christians while we conduct ourselves belligerently. In doing so we do not exhibit the gentleness of Christ, nor do we manifest the fruit of the Spirit. Instead, we engage in the works of the flesh.

When we act with such wanton aggressiveness and militancy, when we choose to be combative and pugnacious, we only betray our own worldliness and prove ourselves unworthy to bear the message of reconciliation which God has committed to us to deliver to a lost world (2 Cor. 5:18). Let us not forget! Sinners sin because by nature they are powerless to resist it. They cannot avoid sinning any more than a thorn bush can refuse to bear briars. They are only living out the sin nature that possesses them.

Christians on the other hand are no longer slaves to sin because they have been given a new nature. Second Peter 1:4 teaches that Christians have become partakers of the divine nature. Yes, we have the power to live according to the Spirit of God and our blessed Lord Jesus is honored when we do so. And when dealing with others, saints or sinners, we are reminded that the servant of the Lord is gentle (2 Tim. 2:24). Therefore, contrary to the spirit that calls down vengeance on those who are in our way, we need to present ourselves in the spirit of entreaty with patience toward those to whom we have been given a message to deliver.

When Christians spend their time and energy trying by political activism to force the world to honor Christ in public places and when we try to institute laws to force the people of this world to live like Christians in accord with the standards set forth by our Lord in His Word, we have lost our way and our true testimony.

Christians have not been sent to clean up the country. They have been sent to bear an urgent message of reconciliation to God to the people who do not know Him. The Lord Jesus said to His disciples, “As the Father has sent Me, even so I am sending you” (Jn. 20:21). He did not come to make the world righteous or to set all things right in this world. Hear Him as He responds to the man who asked Him to tell his brother to divide the inheritance with him: “Man, who made Me a judge or arbitrator over you?” (Lk. 12:14). He completely disowns the role some wish to impose upon Him, but He has promised to make things right when He comes again.

In John 6:15 we are told that there were some who wanted to make Him king by force. Of course these people were only interested in the material benefit of having a benevolent ruler who demonstrated that He was able to supply their fill of fish and bread – the temporal benefits for which they lived. To the extent that Christ’s being king would answer to their selfish desires, to this extent they wanted to make Him their king. But He had not come for this purpose. He came to save sinners, to make men holy, and He would not be diverted from this mission.

Jesus did not come to make men act as though they were holy; He came to make men to be truly holy. Similarly, He has sent us into the world not to lobby for legislation in the secular sphere to force men to live righteously. Laws could never accomplish this end. He sent us to preach the good news by which men are regenerated and transformed from within so that they will supernaturally desire to live righteous lives. If we could be effective in doing this we would have people living righteously and decently because they would be acting out of the power and desire of the Holy Spirit from within.

The Lord Jesus Christ came not to drive the darkness out of the world but to deliver men out of darkness. Similarly, the Christian’s commission to the world is not to try to remove the darkness. It is rather to shine in the darkness so that “the people who sit in darkness might see a great light, and those who live in the land where death casts its shadow might see a light shine (Mt. 4:16; Isa. 9:2).

By Humphrey Duncanson