I don’t know if you’re like me, but growing up in Christian context and being raised in a Christian family, I used to hear this phrase all the time “Be in the world but not of the world.” It’s become one of those “Christian-ese” sayings that makes sense to you if you’ve heard it your whole life, but maybe not so much if you are new to the faith. But even though it may be something you’ve heard since Sunday School as a kid, it’s an important idea that highlights a real tension in the Christian life. This tension, which is as pronounced and relevant as it ever has been in our world in 2021, involves the question of how we continue to live in the world, even after we have been saved, redeemed and destined for our home with Jesus in heaven. How do we rightly understand living in a world which, as the scriptures tell us, is not our home? Should we do like the old Sheryl Crow song says and just “soak up the sun” while we’re here? Or do we reject the world and all its pleasure and establish our Christian lives and communities in isolation from the world?
We’ve all seen Christians and churches that choose one or the other of these opposite paths. When I was growing up, many of the Christian contexts I was involved in chose the latter. We were very careful not to dress or act “worldly” and we were suspicious of ideas, opinions and perspectives that the world had to offer. We reflexively saw those things which were not explicitly “Christian” as something to be avoided or at least not frequently indulged. On the other hand, just a few decades later, there are many who favor the opposite approach. And while there may not have been a conscious decision by anyone or any group to allow the world to influence and infiltrate our churches and Christian contexts, there has been an unmistakable relaxation of our guard against the “things of this world.” As many have come to realize the damage legalism has had on the Gospel’s witness and impact on our lives, they have traded a suspicion of the world for a suspicion of Christians’ rules about the world.
So how do we understand this difficult concept that’s relevant and important, not just for ourselves, but for our families, our churches, and for the Christian witness globally? Quite obviously we can’t solve it in a brief blog post. Indeed, there have been Christian authors, theologians, and pastors writing about this issue for centuries and there is plenty of disagreement. However, for our purposes I think that if we recognize a few key truths, and resist the temptation to go to one extreme or the other, we can better navigate this issue and properly posture ourselves toward the culture and the world around us.
Complete isolation immobilizes the gospel. One response to this tension is a call for the church to completely isolate themselves from the world. In light of the temptations of the world and the immense influence society and culture can have on us, proponents of this response tend to employ a “better safe than sorry” approach and advocate for Christians completely removing there communities and families away from any influence of “outside society.” This isolation is not only geographical but also extends to every cultural or social influence, so that they are never exposed to non-Christian forms of media or entertainment.
And let’s be honest, when you look around at the world today and see what our culture is offering us, especially as a parent, it can be very tempting to want to completely remove our families from these influences and retreat to an exclusively Christian community. But, while there may seem to be good reasons to withdraw and isolate, ultimately, to do so entirely would be to fail to bring the gospel to the nations. Indeed, the last thing Jesus said to us before he ascended into heaven was to go and make disciples of all nations. That can’t be done if we circle the wagons, retreat from society altogether, and isolate ourselves from the world. We have to engage and be a light in the darkness.
Complete assimiliation obscures the gospel. Another way in which many Christians have responded to the question of engagement in the world and culture is to completely welcome, embrace, and, ultimately, assimilate the world. There are some who readily admit to having this perspective, but more often than not this approach happens unwittingly. Many, in reacting against a legalistic brand of Christianity experienced in the past, are therefore not skeptical or wary of the world’s influence at all.
This alternative approach is also understandable. Legalism is a false gospel and has led many astray or been the cause of many individuals turning from the church and feeling condemnation. Further, there are many wonderful things that may be considered “the world” that would be missed if seeking to avoid anything that isn’t explicitly “Christian.” However, the Scriptures tell us that the world offers us a veritable cornucopia of idols, vain philosophies, and pleasures that compete for our hearts and minds against God. John 1 says, “If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.” We must recognize that we can’t be citizens of two kingdoms. We have to recognize that the world is against God and that we must love God, which often means saying no to what the world is offering or claiming.
How then should we live? The truth is that there isn’t an easy answer that will make all the decisions you must make for you and your family easy. Despite what the pundits, talking heads, and Facebook firebrands may want you to believe, the answer isn’t obvious, and the other guy who thinks differently is not automatically an idiot or a bad person. Instead of pretending that we at Faith Driven Consumer™ (FDC) can provide you with all the answers to these difficult abstract and practical questions, we simply want to remind you what the scriptures say about engaging with culture and being “in the world and not of the world.”
Jesus tells us in the gospels that we are to be salt and light in the world. This simple metaphor is maybe the best and easiest way to illustrate a balance between the two extremes above. We have to remain distinct from the world, because otherwise we wouldn’t be light in a dark world, or salt in a tasteless world. We have to be so different that our presence in the world has the same effect as a candle in a dark room or as salt on bland food. BUT, in this metaphor the light and the salt are radically transformative. Remember the old song about not hiding your light under a bushel? That’s because if you have a light, you wouldn’t keep it from darkness, you’d use it in darkness. And, the same goes for salt. So, by being salt and light in the world – like Jesus said – we are both remaining unstained and steadfast in distinction from the world, while being radically transformative in the world.
As Christians and Faith Driven Consumers, we have a responsibility to prayerfully consider how God would have us engage with the world. May we do so in a way that enables us to be salt and light in our communities, our culture, and the world around us.
