Not of this World

 Last Sunday, once again, Benji and I headed to Cincinnati Children's Hospital. Once they got him set up in his room, I headed down to the cafeteria. As I sat there, I watched many different people walk by. A handful really stood out.

There were several Amish families who walked by. They wore their solid colored clothing, the men had their beards without mustaches, and the women had their full skirts and bonnets. I also saw several Hasidic Jews. They had their untrimmed beards with their side locks at their temples; they wore black wide brimmed hats and had fringes hanging at their waist. There was a clear distinction in their appearance from everyone around them. With both religious groups - they clearly stood out as different.

Today, being different is applauded in some circles. - Being a trendsetter in fashion, being a 'cutting edge' social media influencer, being an innovative technology company. But when it comes to having different core values, living differently than much of what is considered the mainstream – it may not be as acceptable.

Believing in a Creator God who has set high standards of morality for His children – that's not very popular. Talking about Jesus as The One and Only Savior of the world is definitely not acceptable. As far as the world is concerned, a 'diversity of belief' is fine - as long as you don't suggest that there are absolute truths in this world as established by God Himself. We are supposed to be different because...

I. We belong to Christ!

Everything else we're going to talk about this morning flows from one simple truth - before God changes how we live, we need to allow Him to change who we are! Christianity isn't primarily about changing what we do - It's about God changing who we are! When we surrender ourselves to Jesus through baptism, we receive...

A. A new identity

Here's our reality - the message of the Gospel - The 'Good News' to which we cling, actually involves some very 'bad news' about the truth of sin, and of Hell - which is actually offensive. That message is not popular, and it never will be with many.

Most people want to fit in - somewhere, to belong. But for those who follow Jesus, we don't get the luxury of completely 'fitting in' in this world. And the reason Christians are called to live differently isn't because we're better than anyone else. It's because Jesus saved us and gave us a new identity in Him.

I want us to look at the passage from the Bible where Jesus first established the Church from Matthew 16:13-18 (NIV)...

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" (14) They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." (15) "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" (16) Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

(17) Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. (18) And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."

That confession that Jesus is The One true Son of God was the reason that the religious elite of the day crucified Jesus. That absolute, uncompromising truth was the reason that many of Jesus' followers were killed for their belief in Him. When Jesus established His Church, the word He used for 'church' was 'ekklēsia' – which means 'a calling out', a calling out from the world. Jesus was calling people out of the world to belong to Him! We've been called out to live differently, to be citizens of a higher kingdom than this world, God's Kingdom. We have been given...

B. A new citizenship

But here's the hard part, we're still in the world. We're called to focus on God's desires rather than our own - but we still live here. It's not an easy task to intentionally not 'fit in'. Despite the fact that we are in the world, we're called to be not of the world. We live in this world, but we are living for the next. That's a bit of a puzzling concept, and Jesus recognized that fact in His prayer concerning His early disciples in John 17:14-15 (NIV)...

I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. (15) My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.

Living as a follower of Jesus is about being in this world, but not of this world – and according to that prayer, it doesn't always sound very safe. To be a follower of Jesus you need to be willing to be hated. And it doesn't mean seeking to be hated or having a persecution complex. Some Christians claim people don't like them because they follow Jesus - when in fact, people don't like them because they're just mean. We don't want to be that.

And as we talk about being called to be different, the question might arise - just how different? 'If I'm going to be a Christian – does that mean I have to wear Christian t-shirts and only post Christian memes and scripture verses online? Do I have to have Christian decals on my car and only listen to Christian music?' Are we supposed to dress and clearly stand out like the Amish or Hasidic Jews? Not necessarily, but we are called to be different and probably more so than we may think.

Our differences aren't just to be limited to how we dress and 'what we do' - only an outward difference. Those who reject Jesus can do some very wonderful, gracious things. Some of the most generous philanthropists are not believers in Jesus. The difference can't be solely in what we do - but in who we are. Who we become in Jesus!

II. We live for Christ!

If we belong to Christ, then it ought to affect how we live. Let's look at Peter's challenge to fellow believers in 1 Peter 2:11-12 (NIV)...

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. (12) Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

Just how different are we called to be? The terms 'aliens' and 'strangers in this world' appear multiple times in scripture describing how our relationship with this world should be. According to God's Word – we are to be very different; even to the point that we are honestly uncomfortable in this world. But who wants that?

And - should Christians be seen as just 'nice'? Of course we should be 'nice' to our neighbors - but 'niceness' alone is not the gospel. Being nice to your neighbor and loaning him your hedge trimmer and hoping that somehow he'll come to Christ without you actually having to take a stand for the truth of the gospel - that's safe. It doesn't run the risk of him thinking you're weird. Our good example is important, but it's not enough.

Are we willing to take a stand, to be different? Because we're called to live for Christ, we're called to have...

A. Different beliefs

A huge proportion of people in this world reject even the idea of God. They reject Him as the Creator. They reject the Bible. That 'rejection of the truth' forms an entire foundation of belief upon which they base their lives. And since their entire lives are built on falsehoods – they naturally think and act in a way that is in direct opposition to God; in direct opposition to the way in which God created them.

When a person submits themselves to Jesus, when we are baptized into Him, we receive God's Holy Spirit which then figuratively 'takes the blinders off'. Our understanding of spiritual truths goes from darkness to light. Paul puts forth this challenge in Romans 12:2 (NIV)...

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Without God's Spirit in us, we can't possibly hope to fully understand God's truths; we can't think or act differently than the world. With His Spirit, we are given wisdom and the power to make sense of a seemingly senseless world. We have to learn to think differently than the world; believe differently than the world. We have to submit our every belief to our Creator.

And are we willing to graciously - but boldly - speak those beliefs. Because we are to live for Christ, we're called to have...

B. Different values

The world puts a lot of its trust in things that will ultimately fail. Worldly possessions and accumulated wealth can vanish overnight. We recently just saw how one storm can wipe out in an instant what it took a lifetime to build. Don't value what the world values.

Luke 12:29-31 (NIV)

And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. (30) For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. (31) But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

Do we value God's kingdom first in our lives?

Or - do we continue to pursue money and things as if our lives depended on it? Are we more concerned with getting the latest gadget, device or phone than we are in pursuing holiness in our own lives? Do we put as much emphasis on reading our Bibles and praying as we do on maintaining our homes and cars and lawns? Are we more concerned with money and things than we are on whether our kids or grandkids know Jesus? Those are hard questions I struggle with...

I'm really not trying to dump a bunch of guilt on us – but rather to challenge each of us to be very intentional in our lives. Are we placing the same values on things as the world does - or do we live differently? Listen to the Apostle John's words from 1 John 2:15-17 (NIV)...

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (16) For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does - comes not from the Father but from the world. (17) The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

"Do not love the world or anything in the world." John isn't saying to not act lovingly toward the people in the world. It's very clear in scripture that love for the people of the world is exactly why Jesus chose to come and die on the cross – to save the lost people of this world. And the most loving thing we can do for them is to tell them the truth— the Good News about Jesus' death and resurrection and the hope that He brings!

It's the things of this world, the lifestyle of this world, the ambition, the values, the morals of this world – if we are going to follow Jesus, we have to completely reject those things. We're called to live differently than the rest of the world because those who have accepted the call of Christ are here for a purpose.

We're not here to condemn the world, nor are we here just to gather on Sunday mornings. We are here to point people to their Savior, just as someone once pointed us to ours. We've been given a huge responsibility; to tell a lost world about the love of Jesus. But that requires us to be bold enough, loving enough to let them know that they are lost without Jesus.

Do we really believe that this life is not all there is – or will we live just like everyone else who denies God's Word about sin and Heaven and Hell and grace? Even though we live in this world – we cannot compromise with the world because it's not the world who determines our eternity.

When your values change, your purpose changes. Identity determines citizenship. Citizenship determines values. And values determine the choices we make every day. - Choosing God's ways and rejecting the world's ways won't make you very popular - some will hate you – but it will make you useful.

So What?

It says this in James 4:4 (NIV)...

You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

James, the brother of Jesus, didn't sugar coat it to try and make it more palatable or popular. Every day of our lives we're called to make a choice. There can be no divided loyalties. We can't live for both worlds – this one and the next. We have to make a choice. And we can't forget, there is a price for following Jesus – His words from John 15:17-19 (NIV)...

This is my command: Love each other. (18) "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. (19) If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you."

I'm not really asking you to do things differently for God. I don't want our take away to be just 'do things' differently. I don't want our focus on 'doing things' for God - but more on simply spending time with God. And that in itself is radically different than the world. And by focusing on just being with God - the more we are with Him - the more 'doing things differently' will naturally flow out of that relationship.

We're called to be different - but more importantly, we're called to belong to Someone different...

If you've never had even a tinge of homesickness for Heaven, you're way too comfortable with this world. If your relationship with God is something you just 'fit in' along with everything else in your life, you don't yet understand that feeling of being an alien or a stranger in this world. If you've never looked around you and viewed people who don't know Jesus as lost, if it's never moved you to compassion – you don't yet fully understand the calling we've received.

We are here to point people to Jesus and point them to eternity. Sometimes that journey begins with nothing more than a simple invitation to a church service. If people see something different in you, a hope they can't explain – that invitation may be all it takes to get them started on their walk with Jesus.

We are not of this world. We have a higher purpose than just 'this'! And I want to close with this reminder from John regarding the thinkers and teachers of this world who reject Jesus…

1 John 4:4 (NIV)

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.