Not of This World

I have this sticker on the back window of my truck. It stands for “Not of This World”. As Christ followers, we are told in God’s world that we are in this world, but not of this world. Here is Jesus, praying to the Father on behalf of His disciples.

^“They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth^. Just as You sent Me into the world, I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, so that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.”   John 17:16-19 NASB

Recently, I took a mission trip that brought to mind and reinforced this truth for me.  I went to the Philippines with a close friend and several others from his church. I traded two weeks of comfort at home with the habits that I’m used to - my own bed, my own coffee, my family, the restaurants I frequent - simple things mostly, but I sacrificed those things to spend some time in a foreign country.

Unfamiliar surroundings, unfamiliar food, foreign people, speaking a language I don’t understand, foreign roads and drivers. Some very long days in a very hot climate. What I realized upon reflection is that what I gained in this trade is far more rewarding, far more valuable than I had expected. The discomfort I experienced, the disorientation of a completely foreign environment, is a picture of what our life is like here on earth, while we are still here before joining Jesus in heaven for eternity.

As a believer, that is how we should feel here on earth. And you don’t necessarily have to fly halfway around the world to experience this. The things we hear and see in our culture today should be strange to us. If you are uncomfortable living in the current day world, it is actually validation that you belong to Jesus, and not to this world. This is not your home. This is a temporary journey.

It is not unlike my trip, which was for mission work with children. We are here in this foreign land to serve and to do God’s work. We are called to do this by Jesus in the Great Commission.

^“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit…” Matthew 28:19 (NASB)

As I approached my retirement years, I wanted to reaffirm and put into action one of my stated life goals, to “finish well.” Finishing well, to me, means being the hands and feet of Jesus and living a life that is pleasing to God. I was also conflicted – after all, I’ve worked hard for a long time to secure a comfortable retirement, and I wanted to enjoy it.  To have some fun.

God used this trip to teach me a valuable lesson. It was extremely rewarding, and I’ve learned that you will have lots of joy and fun along the way because that’s how God designs things. What I am coming to realize is that personal enjoyment and service to our Father are not two separate paths, they are one. When you are obedient and submit to God's calling in your life, whatever that is. He will equip you to do his work, and at the same time, you will have more joy and more fun experiences, and they will be full of peace and contentment beyond anything you can imagine.

And while I have your ear, let me throw in a plug for support and service to mission work, both here at home and abroad. I’ve already quoted the Great Commission where Jesus commands us to go. If that’s not enough, I’ll throw in another idea. Here’s a biblical concept – you can’t outgive God.

^“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and put Me to the test now in this,” says the Lord of armies, “if I do not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.” Malachi 3:10 (NASB)

You read that right, God says “Test Me”.  Nowhere else in the Bible that I am aware of does God challenge us to test Him. In fact, we are firmly told not to do so.  But in this area of giving, God says basically, “Go ahead and try – you cannot outgive Me.”

Every attempt that we make to move closer to God should have the effect of making the world, and the things of the world around us, seem more and more foreign, and stranger.   

The song “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” comes to mind with its chorus:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,Look full in His wonderful face,And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,In the light of His glory and grace.