Month: March 2024

That is a question that the disciples of Jesus have tried to find a sufficient answer for centuries. In the Gospel of John chapter seventeen, Jesus says that we are not OF the world even as He was not OF it (John 17:11,14,16). He did not pray that we be taken OUT of the world but protected while within it (John 17:15). He has purposefully sent us INTO the world (John 17:18) to be His representatives and ambassadors to it (2 Cor.5:20).

What We Have that Enables Us To Minister To The World

Each of us has been born with a tendency to sin and be rebellious against God. But when we were born again we received a new nature, the old nature has gone and the new nature has come (2 Cor.5:17-18, 2 Peter 1:3,4). We have His Spirit within us (Rom.8:9, 1 John 4:4, Col.1:27). We have His Word (the Bible) with instructions about how we relate to the world while living by Kingdom principles. We must renew our minds according to the promises of God (Rom.12:1-2).

When we are told in the Bible that we should not love the world or be a friend to it (1 John 2:15-17, James 4:4) it refers to beliefs, values, attitudes, and actions. We live among people who have different beliefs than those of us who belong to Jesus. They have values in agreement with the kingdom they are living in. Disciples of Jesus are to live counter-culturally to the world. We are in but not of the world, and it is a constant battle against spiritual forces (2 Cor.10:3-5, Eph.6:12) of evil to live according to the Word of God.

Other Things We Can Do

• Regular worship with a local congregation.
• Consistent study of Scripture.
• Consistent prayer life.
• Become more outward-focused.
• Be filled with the Spirit of God.
• Exercise what motivational or spiritual gifts you may have.
• Meditate on the promises of God that assure us that He has given us everything needed for life and Godliness.

We are told in Scripture that children must be taught to obey their parents (Eph.6:1). We are told to submit to civil authorities (Romans 13:1). Yet, Peter and the other apostles said “We ought to obey God rather than man” (Acts 5:29).

Is there a difference between obedience and submission? I think there is. Obedience means to do what you are told to do by someone in authority, while submission indicates the proper attitude toward the person in authority even if, for conscience’s sake, one cannot do what they are told to do. A good illustration of this is a story I once heard: a little boy was standing up on the pew in church and his father told him to sit down and he wouldn’t do it, so the father put his hands on the boy’s shoulders and made him sit down. The boy said to his father, ‘I am sitting down on the outside, but I am standing up on the inside!’ The father made the boy obey but did not make him submissive.

How Does This Relate To Daily Life

One of the most important things one can learn is how to recognize authority and how to relate to it. Authorities exist in all realms of life. Your employer, police officers, government officials, leaders in church, etc. Authorities exist for the sake of order in our society. We need these different manifestations of authority. But, sometimes human authority becomes abusive, unbiblical, or acts as a dictatorship. What are we to do in such situations?

Pray for those in authority (1 Tim.2:1-2).

Obey as much as you possibly can without disobeying the Word of God or your conscience.

If the authority requires something contrary to the Word of God, disobey it and obey God’s Word, while attempting to keep a right attitude toward the authority.

One can always be submissive even in times when one cannot obey. The ability to do so shows the work of the Spirit within us – self-control (Gal.5:22-24).

This is often seen in government leaders who, by fiat or legitimately pass laws that require citizens to do unbiblical things. There are numerous examples of that in both Old Testament and New Testament passages.

I believe this becomes even more important to know and do the closer we get to the return of the Lord.