Seeing the World

There are two dangers for the Christian when it comes to relating to the world: The first is that he will detach himself from the world. The second is that he will assimilate to the world, and there will be no distinction between him and the world. The Christian attitude should not be one of conformity to the world. Jesus prayed: “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it” (John 17:15-16).

Today the temptation to conform is probably as great as it has ever been, especially with all the criticism Christianity receives. The result of conformity to the world is assimilation. There will be no difference between the church and the world system in time. Paul writes: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Rom 12:2).

Christ prayed that we would succumb to neither isolation nor assimilation. We have to choose whether we will isolate and detach ourselves from the world or become part of the world or make the world our mission.

Christ prayed that his followers would neither isolate nor assimilate but share the good news with the world. This is not easy; that is why we see so many Christians detached from the world, but with the Holy Spirit’s help, we can share the Gospel with this world.

This morning a hummingbird flew into my garage. With the garage door open, there was a space of 16 feet by 8 feet, but it could not find its way out. It kept flying above the door where it encountered no opening. It flew all around the garage, repeating the same pattern. It was wearing itself. I tried to help it find its way, but it only flew its frustrating pattern, bringing it no freedom. The bird would fall to the floor out of exhaustion, only to get up and try again. No matter how much I wanted to help it see the opening, it could not find its way to the open air. Finally, I threw a rag over the tiny bird, carried it outside, let it go, and off it went into a high tree to rest.

The whole thing reminded me of how much God wants us to connect to the world around us so we can share Jesus with them, but we follow our ingrained routine. Not until the Holy Spirit wraps us in his presence and carries us outside can we really see the world.