In and Not Of

    Have an eternal perspective . . . .we hear it all the time as Christians. We need to keep our eyes off of the world and off of the things that are of the world. In other words, we must be in the world and not of the world. The first time I heard this phrase was on the Avalon album "Testify to Love". The song literally was called "In and not of". As an eleven year old, I understood I was called to be different. I knew that when my friends lied to their parents or used "bad words", I was supposed to stand up against that and say it was wrong. Not only that, I was not supposed to participate in that at all.
     But it's not always an easy thing to do. You face rejection, you face being made fun of, you face being excluded. No one wants that. No one wants to be on the outside looking in. So how do we do what we are called to do while not feeling like we must live in Siberia?
     I could give the "church" answer. I could say all the things like we just need to pray and God will help. That God is all you need so who needs friends? But reality is we do need friends. We do need fellowship. So how do we live in the world, not participating in those things that break God's heart but not staying in our Christian bubbles? It can be so dangerous just to live amongst Christians and only interact with Christians. When we do this, we forget there are people who are lost and do need us to speak truth to them. There are people who do not know Christ and who need us to be the light of the world. Jesus calls us to be the light of the world and salt of the earth. It may sound a little funny but to be the salt of the earth means that we add taste to the world. We add the seasoning to the bland darkness overshadowing the world. So we must be in the world. We must live in it but we must not be of it. We must rise above the corruption and against the strongholds holding the world back.
     But how? How do we keep that perspective and not alienate people? How do we do that and not just stay in our Christian bubbles? We become real people. We become real people with real faults, real problems, and real trials. We reach out to those who are lost and we let them know that we too struggle. We don't stay in our Christian bubbles pretending everything is awesome but instead we step out into the world as God has called us to do. We pour into Christ and he will give us the strength to walk in the world and not fall. We can never do it on our own strength but only with the help of Jesus. For as it says in Jude 1:24: "Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy to the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory majesty dominion and authority before all time and now and forever."
     Indeed we must live with an eternal perspective but that eternal perspective must keep us in the world. We must walk in such a way that's real and that draws people to Christ. If we do not do that, then we have failed in what we are called to do. Yes, I am excited to one day step into eternity and see Jesus face to face but while I'm here, I want to glorify him in everything I do and live in a way that makes him proud. I want to be in and not of.

I hide me far away from trouble
The world outside me grows darker by the day
So I promise to stay here close beside You
Surely God would want His children safe

Then in reading, how my eyes were opened
I find that He is leading us out into the world
Into the middle of fallen saints and sinners
Where a little grace is needed most

Come take the light to darker parts
Share His truth with hardened hearts
We are not like the world, but we can love it
Come bring the hope to hopeless men
Until the lost are found in Him

"In and not Of" Avalon -- Songwriters Grant Cunningham, Nickolas Gonzales