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In the World, not from the World! ...

Tuesday, June 17, 2014. We are all living in a whole set of many relationships. We have work, our job environment. We are usually part of a family. We have neighbors. We are in contact with people when we go shopping, when we buy what we need for our living. We are in the middle of the world! …

Not from the world …

We are in the middle of the world. But the bible claims that when we believe in Jesus, we are not from the world. This relationship between our normal environment and our faith is not a trivial one - it is a little more complex. Let us read a part of John 17, where Jesus talks about it:

5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. 6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.

Sometimes, when you have problems in the world, it can help you to gain some distance to the things which are quite close in a normal state. In the New Testament, “the world” is treated with care. God loves the world, he even gives his son to save it. But at the same time we are told not to love the world, and that God loves his children. The world plays different roles here. God does not love the world for what it is, but for what it can be when it is in a proper relationship to him. The world without God is lost!

The role of the world …

What is the role of the world in your life? What is the role of your job for you. Does it fill all your days? I just spend the weekend on science - and I have to ask myself: is it really right to spend the whole Sunday on writing a scientific talk. Where do I take the time to be with God and learn from him?

Also, the role I give to my job might be inadequate. When I read the New Testament, I come to the conclusion that the job should not be the main thing in my life - only God can play role number one. But at the same time: doing your job with enthusiasm and care is important, and it would be stupid to do it differently. I want to be fully engaged and give 100% for what I do - whatever it is!

So potentially there is some conflict, and when your work environment makes it difficult to carry out you job appropriately, then you will have to rethink your role and your environment. Currently, I am in the process of doing that.

Patience is sometimes needed to solve problems. Patience is needed to sort out the role of different parts of our life. So it is for me currently, what about you? (Roland Potthast) ... more texts