Not of this World

There is a fine but clear distinction between what the New Testament refers to as
the “world” in some places, such as John 3:16 (”For God so loved the World…
etc.”), and in others, such as John 15:19, 1John 2:15-17 and James 4:4.
The first refers to humanity at large, and we are told that God loves it.
The second refers to what some people like to call “the System,” the
establishment, or – some movie freaks like myself – as “the Matrix,” and we are
told not to love it, or else we may become God’s enemy!
What most Christians seem to refer to as “the World” in that second sense, is
non-believers.
A favorite group to be included in that category these days are Muslims, for
example. Strangely enough, not the Jews, even if for the sole reason that their
Holy Book makes up the first two thirds of the Christian Bible.
Some atheists are also included in that group of the common Christian concept
of “the World,” (if a believer is willing to admit that Jesus, James and John must
have referred so any sort of people at all in those above mentioned Scriptures),
although – in the case of Christians in the U.S. this doesn’t apply to American
atheists.
Jews and Americans enjoy a special status and are somehow exempt from the
mystery group of people that might possibly constitute “the World” that Jesus and
His disciples admonished us to stay away from.
However, taking a closer look at Jesus’ life and the Early Church history, we may
discover quite a different picture than that common concept of “them Hottentots
down yonder” as referring to “the world.”
If we take that dusty Bible off the shelf and actually start reading the Gospels
instead of settling for that weekly sermon with a few Bible verses tossed in, we
begin to see that the sort of people Jesus was actually having the most trouble
with were not the Romans (pagans and foreigners), but the religious community
of His own people!
Gulp!
He said to His disciples, “He that receives you, receives Me, and he that receives
Me receives Him that sent Me.”
In other words, those He referred to in John 15:19 must have included or
consisted of those who received Him not.
Was Jesus in fact referring to the religious establishment – among others? Folks
living in our own country, that we adore every night on TV? Could it be possible
that they might be part of “the world” that His true disciples are not supposed to
be part of?
After all, it’s hardly a temptation to fall head over heels for the Hottentots we have
nothing in common with.
It must have been tough for Jesus and His disciples to be rejected by the very
ones they were supposed to have the most in common with (same God, same
religion, same background and culture, and yet worlds apart).
It was still tough for them half a century later when Christians were banned from
any synagogue in the world.
And that was before Paul got soft and gave it one last shot at converting his own
“chosen” people, & went back to Jerusalem against the explicit warning from the
Lord that this was going to be his death, and it was, eventually.
So, perhaps Jesus wasn’t talking about the Hottentots and pagans, after all,
when He was talking about “the World.” (But maybe they’re included in “the
World” that God loves, in John 3:16, and we’re supposed to love them likewise?)
…
“The World” that neither Jesus nor His true followers have never been a part of is
the large majority of those who will simply always, throughout history refuse to
receive those whom He has truly sent.
It may be hard to recognize His true disciples sometimes, because they may
have broken some of the establishment’s rules, similar to the way Jesus and His
original disciples did in disrespecting the Sabbath and associating with
prostitutes and other outcasts.
They will even make mistakes and commit sins, the way God’s people have
throughout history, since claims of “infallibility” are reserved for the untouchables
and merchants of forgiveness of the established false religionists, and the world
will come out to point their fingers at them, only to find themselves poking their
finger right in God’s eye, and hear Him repeat, “He that is without sin among you,
let him cast the first stone!”
Maybe what Jesus referred to as “the World” isn’t defined as much by anyone’s
“religion,” as one’s reception of His true emissaries and ambassadors.
As far as I can see, the established religious System still rejects, refuses and
even persecutes the true disciples of Christ just as they have always done.
I guess it’s something difficult to relate to unless one has made that type of
experience himself.