sooo, yesterday was extremely busy and i didn’t get to post anything…but we’re back in business today!!! and i really want to get back to the idea of being either in or of the world…i did get one whole response to that has post, but it had absolutely nothing to do with the post…thanks cathi!!!
this past weekend i had plenty of time to think about this…in fact i was trying to live out what i was thinking, as i was thinking…confused yet??? my whole thought in looking back at the passage is focused on the word “of”…what would it mean exactly to be “of the world”…
so i came up with a list of phrases that use the word “of”…
-cup of coffee
- bag of chips
- bucket of water
- day of remembrance
- coat of many colors
- cup of coffee (did i mention that one already???)
in coming up with this list and sitting there thinking about this list…at starbucks of course…the word “of” brings with it the idea of contents or what something is made from or what something is filled with…
so to me when i read this passage i see Jesus saying that when people are thinking of us…if people were asked to describe us…our contents should not be from the world…we should not be filled with the world or consumed by the world…
and to go back to the whole idea of a cup of coffee…i know, imagine that…but it only stops being a cup of coffee when it is completely empty…not containing any of that wonderful liquid…so we have to be completely empty of the world…
is that possible??? what does that look like??? i’m still thinking about it…just not at starbucks now!!!
there you have it…
in or off…take two
That was great Jon! It’s hard to not be of the world when we are living in it. Being totally empty of the world and filled with only the things of God seems like a tall order to me. It’s what we have to strive for each day. That’s a whole lot to think about. man, Starbucks really gets your mind flowin’.
In my opinion, life is very interesting. We live in this world and we are part of it. I think though there is a difference, at least for me, in the fact that “in or of” this world means that even if we live IN this world we should not be solely part OF this world. In other words, we should not place anything between us and God. If money is more important, if the vacation to Hawaii is more important, if kids soccer is more important, etc. In addition, I think that it also means that we should not living an earthly type of wisdom, rather a heavenly type of wisdom. This came out of my study of the book of James. Earthly wisdom – bad emotions, wrong desires, etc. Heavenly wisdom – the opposite of earthly – good emotions and the correct desires – wanting to live more Christ like.
That is my opinion anyway…MJ
@Michael – great stuff! that whole part of things becoming more important can be a tough one!!! for me that is especially true with my daughter, and she’s only 1… thanks man!!!
Totally agree… I have two amazing girls and it feels like they take over my life sometimes. The cool thing is they are getting old enough to remind me what is important… typical conversation as of late…
“Dad, why didn’t we go to church today…”
“You sister had a soccer game …”
“That is not fair…”
“I know, we will go next week…”
Just wait until they get old enough to remind you about life, God, right from wrong, each step along the way is a pretty cool stage, but now they are little adults…
Also, thanks for the Christ Tomlin Youtube link.