What Is Worldliness? (John 17:13-19) Part Four

In our previous lesson, we saw that Jesus was in this world with a divine purpose. It was that purpose that allowed Him to befriend sinners. We saw that the Lord sends Christ followers into the world with the same purpose! Today, we'll continue looking at how Jesus was in the world. As Christ followers, to be in the world and yet not of the world is because we hold to absolute truth, the Word of God! Our stand on the Bible will result in opposition and hostility from the world. Let's examine Jesus' words in verse 14, "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." These words are defining the relationship of Christ followers to the world. In John 15:19 we read, "If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you." Knowing this requires having a realistic mindset with respect to the world. Expecting hostility and opposition is to be our mindset! Jesus said, "I have given them Your word" (v 14). In John 17:17, Jesus says, "Your word is truth." The Word of God is truth!! We must understand that the world can tolerate us if we present a watered down truth. But when we proclaim that God's Word is the absolute, unbendable truth for every person everywhere, we will catch the world's hatred. Jesus told His unbelieving brothers, "The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil" (John 7:7). Every Christ follower who is living a life for God's glory should experience the hatred and antagonism of the world! Why? Because the moment we testify that certain behavior is evil, we will be accused of being bigoted, small-minded, judgmental, and intolerant! If we go into the world expecting to be well-liked and popular, we'll be in for a rude awakening! We are to be in the world as our Lord was in it. But we are to go in the world with a realistic attitude that while some will respond favorably to the truth, many others will not! We will not be welcomed by all. To recap: We've seen that our Lord was in the world, not isolated from worldly sinners. We've seen that Jesus was in the world with a divine purpose, testifying to the truth. We've seen that Jesus expected hostility from the world. In our next lesson, we'll examine how Christ followers are to be distinct from the world as our Lord was distinct from it. Be encouraged!