LIVING IN THE WORLD BUT NOT OF THE WORLD

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To be “in the world but not of the world” is one of those sayings that make sense, but it remains undeniably easier said than done. As Christians, we understand that we are in the world, passing through, on our way to eternity. We also understand that we are not to be of the world in the sense that we submit our lives to Christ, putting off the desires of the flesh, avoiding temptations, and resisting evil. We understand these things, but how can we ensure we’re living them out?

“I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world,” Jesus prayed. “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” John 17:14-16

How do we juggle the balance of loving unbelievers while not condoning their worldliness? How can we navigate discourse between those we disagree with? For many of us, it may be safe to say that we have a sense of needing to find unity where we can with those around us. And yet, in that pursuit, we must not neglect the command to speak the truth boldly and in love. To help us with this endeavour, there are a few goals worth prioritizing.

  1. Put God and His Word first.

No matter what you’re doing, who you’re talking to, where you’re going, or what you’re hoping for, putting God and His word first is the most important task for the believer. Proverbs 3:6 states, “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.” The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” The two greatest commandments are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbours as ourselves. These are all in God’s word, and these are all rooted in putting God first. It’s glorifying to God to share His truth. It glorifies Him for us to love others and to be people who bear the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

When He is the one our gaze is fixed upon, we see the world differently. We’re quicker to see others (especially those of the world) not merely as obstacles or irritants but as people made in the image of God. We see sinners not so much as stumbling blocks but as people needing saving — just as we all are.

If you want to be a light to everyone around you, then make sure the Source of light is deeply and firmly planted within you. Be engaged in His word. Seek Him daily in prayer. Earnestly seek to glorify Him in all that you do, and you just may find yourself walking in a posture ready to communicate with anyone about anything in a way that is dignified, loving, truthful, and fruitful.

  1. Understand the biblical definition of love.

Jesus said in John 13:35 that His disciples will be known for their love. Of course, what is loving in biblical terms does not align with what the world defines love to be. And so, if we’re to be in the world but not of it, we must come to terms with the fact that we will have conversations with people we don’t agree with that won’t go particularly well. We can do everything in our power to be cool, calm, and collected, but it doesn’t change the fact that the truth is inherently offensive to those of the world. But as Christians, we know there is nothing more loving than to share this truth. A precise definition of biblical love can be found in 1 John 5:3: “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.” The truth can hurt, and it can hurt badly. But to experience hurt is not the same as to experience harm. The truth is love and freedom, and remembering this will help us hold our ground in conversations with people who are not like-minded. And at the end of the day, their responses are not in our control.

  1. Make sure you know what you believe and why.

This may actually be one of the most crucial steps to finding the balance of seeking unity while holding your ground. 1 Peter 3:15 states, “In your hearts honour Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defence to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” Ephesians 4:15 talks about being equipped for ministry “so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” The point is that we should have conviction about what we believe. We should be able to clearly define and defend it.

  1. Stay humble.

Humility is not only biblical, but it’s necessary for healthy dialogue. Humility helps us approach conversations with the right attitude. It helps us respond better to those who do not behave well. It helps us be more compassionate when we’re dealing with difficult people or having dicey conversations. We are all sinful, imperfect, messy humans. Humility reminds us of that.

Summary: Between the goals of putting God first, understanding what true love is, knowing what you believe, and staying humble, you will be walking a path to success. A great anonymous quote “Jesus sat with sinners; He didn’t sin with them. Know the difference.” And remember the words found in Luke 12: 11b-12: “Do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” He is always with us. And praise be that He gives us the strength, wisdom, and discernment needed to live in and not of this world.

This an abbreviated version of an article in The Washington Stand entitled Living in the World, Not of It: The Balance of Finding Unity While Standing Firm in Truth by Sarah Holliday

BIBLE DISCOVERY HOME GROUPS

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An important step in making disciples for Jesus. You don’t have to be a graduate of a Bible College to conduct these Bible studies. Family as a Mission to Make Disciples.

In this video, Torben introduces you to three simple steps you can take to see a Bible Discovery Group begin! These three steps provide a simple but amazing tool you can use to host your own Bible Group. Last Reformation (L.R.) is already seeing many new groups start all over America!

Last Reformation plans to network with groups who are ready to start a Bible Discovery Group or host THE KICKSTART PACKAGE. The goal being to see a reformation of the church, back to the REAL JESUS FELLOWSHIP – just like the early church, with love, power, and growth! Then they will make disciples and see Jesus build HIS church!

L.R. expects this is going to explode! I think they are right! So watch the video! Share the video!

CHURCH IN THE END TIMES

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This extremely simple presentation on a napkin outlines what church is all about, what it is designed to do and then explains what the institutional church has added which has made it extremely difficult for it to accomplish what Jesus designed for it to do.

DBS WITH NICKY

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Nicky shares with us the A-B-C process of Discovery Bible Study. I love this simple explanation of how to make disciples. Allow God’s Word to speak into their lives and expect the Holy Spirit to do His work. As Nicky explains in this video, in a group of four or five people the Holy Spirit will use one verse to speak a different message into the lives of each of them. It is awesome and confirms what the following two scriptures tell us.

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Hebrews 4:12-13

“so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, Isaiah 55:11

We just need to bring God’s Word and our own testimony to people who are willing to listen and allow the Holy Spirit to do the rest. People need to experience God for themselves our words will accomplish little. I am reminded of the KISS principle.

https://youtu.be/bPCL9w6LIjE

BEARING FRUIT AFTER 44 YEARS

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We are never too old to be a true disciple of Christ, i.e. a disciple who makes more disciples. Listen to the amazing testimony of this Dutch couple who are now living the Christian life and bringing others to Christ. They are excited about what God is doing and will do each day. They are energised, happy, joyful and could not go back to the old church life that they lived for 44 years. You will be challenged by their testimony and hopefully it will cause you to follow their lead and connect with the The Last Reformation (TLR).

CHURCHES MAKE DISCIPLES

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The Importance of a Disciple-Making Movement (DMM) – Communities of Disciples.

Paul was able to win the city not by joining a political party, but by making disciples and releasing these disciples to turn the world upside down.

“Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” Acts 2:44-47

There was a healthy fear of the Lord in the community after the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira.

Paul did not attempt to plant mere churches, but founded communities of disciples—which formed a kingdom ekklesia which can turn a city upside down!

They were not event-driven, but process-driven.

In his epistle, Paul wrote to explain to the Ephesian church (about four years after Acts 19) how they transformed Asia Minor and wrote in chapter 4 that the ekklesia is equipped by the five fold ministry to become a mature man—as the expression of the fullness of Christ and corporate son—who will manifest the government of God increasingly on the earth.

In Ephesians 4:12 we see both an inward and outward focus: one is missional and the other is focused on building the body of Christ.

The missional purpose of the apostles was to equip the saints to minister in every aspect of culture, according to Genesis 1:28, as His ekklesia, so the earth would be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

The focus to edify the church is seen in Ephesians 4:12-16 when it speaks about the church growing into the fullness of the stature of Jesus. This passage shows what the ultimate goal of discipleship is: to be like Jesus as a corporate community (a nation within nations that disciples every people group and subculture).

Consequently, to the extent the kingdom ekklesia looks and acts like Jesus, it will have governmental authority and influence because the government is on His shoulders and because it was He who defeated the powers of darkness!

Isaiah 9:6-7 says: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.”

Ephesians 4:11-13 says: “He gave some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of service, and for the building up of the body of Christ, until we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, into a complete man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

As His corporate body, He called us to manifest His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven according to Luke 11:2. Moreover, Jesus made it possible for our Heavenly Father to send the third person of the Trinity to be our Counsellor, Teacher and Comforter and therefore enable us to do the job He has called us to do. The Holy Spirit enables us to overcome the powers of darkness and manifest the fruit of the Spirit and operate in the gifts of the Spirit.

To those who have an ear to hear and a heart to understand, let me leave you with this quote from Rene Bates book God’s Glory: And the Exhortation: “What we begin to see now is the deathwatch of the gloomy, deceptive, organised religious system. It gave birth to nothing but a dearth of life, religious institutes (mistakenly called churches), and canons of human pride, turning many toward insincere piety. May the Lord Jesus Christ forever be praised within your hearts as He delivers us from the people-pleasing business.”

DISCIPLE MAKING CHURCHES IN THE LAST DAYS

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As mentioned many times previously on this website, I believe the end times church will be like the church described in the Book of Acts and it is wonderful to see many Disciple Making Movements starting up. I have promoted Francis Chan (Multiply Movement), David Platt (Radical) two of the most notable Disciple Making Movements as well as Oikos Australia in my own country.

This article from Oikos and a short video from DMMS Frontiers Mission are worth considering for your church.

At Oikos, we are thinking about multiplication. With 25.5 million Australians, only 52% identify themselves as Christian – this opportunity is one we are passionate about impacting!

Did you know that one pair of rabbits can end up with 4 million offspring in only 4 years time? That is rapid growth!  Does your group, simple church or disciple-making strategy – have a clear plan where those in your group, clearly know how they can train to equip others to disciple new people and plant new groups/churches.

“If not, your strategy may need to be adjusted. Everything you do in disciple-making must pass the test of reproducibility. When we make things too complicated, we don’t get rabbit churches that multiply quickly” – DMMS Frontier Missions”

Does your group know how to share the gospel, invite people to Jesus and know what to do if someone says yes? Do you have a vision for growth & raising up others?

2 Timothy 2:2 is our guide. Paul trained Timothy. Timothy trained faithful men. They trained many others.

“And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.” 2 Timothy 2:2 

That’s multiplication. That’s generational growth. It’s what we do to see Oikos become a Disciple-Making movement!!
Who are you developing as under you? Who are you passing the baton too? Effective disciple making involves multiplication of simple churches and disciples.