In the world but not of it?
Someday I will make a lengthy post on this topic, because I think it's something that Christians in particular must constantly revisit, but is also a concept that can be useful to those who are not religious but who do subscribe to the idea that the world is kind of messed up and we need to be careful and intentional in how we engage with it, with each other.
For now, though, just a thought that occurred to me driving home:
So many people see the corrupt side of our society, and choose to withdraw rather than try to deal with it.
I understand the frustration that can underlie such a choice; or the fear (after all, it is true that "bad company corrupts good morals"); or, for that matter, the deep desire to set oneself aside for the worship and love of the Creator.
My own choice has been more along the lines of my icon: as Christ did, I set myself in the midst of the darkness, trusting to Him for courage to do so, for the strength to hold to His love and wisdom, His grace to remains set apart even as I live within patterns of thought, action, expectation which are utterly opposed to the type of love He showed me and saved me for.
Sometimes I wonder whether that's enough. Society can be corrupt at a level that makes some level of compromise almost inevitable, or so it seems at times. Is that true? Is it a tightrope that we walk, to our constant peril (and is it worth it to reach others in the darkness)? Or is the love and grace of God truly strong enough to hold us tightly, to guide and teach us even in the midst of a world that stands on its head and protests that it is walking upright?
And do we trust Him enough for that faith to rule our lives, both in loving compromise where we can, and in uncompromising love where we must?
For now, though, just a thought that occurred to me driving home:
So many people see the corrupt side of our society, and choose to withdraw rather than try to deal with it.
I understand the frustration that can underlie such a choice; or the fear (after all, it is true that "bad company corrupts good morals"); or, for that matter, the deep desire to set oneself aside for the worship and love of the Creator.
My own choice has been more along the lines of my icon: as Christ did, I set myself in the midst of the darkness, trusting to Him for courage to do so, for the strength to hold to His love and wisdom, His grace to remains set apart even as I live within patterns of thought, action, expectation which are utterly opposed to the type of love He showed me and saved me for.
Sometimes I wonder whether that's enough. Society can be corrupt at a level that makes some level of compromise almost inevitable, or so it seems at times. Is that true? Is it a tightrope that we walk, to our constant peril (and is it worth it to reach others in the darkness)? Or is the love and grace of God truly strong enough to hold us tightly, to guide and teach us even in the midst of a world that stands on its head and protests that it is walking upright?
And do we trust Him enough for that faith to rule our lives, both in loving compromise where we can, and in uncompromising love where we must?