As we prepare to move more deeply and directly into John 15:18–16:4, I want to unpack something I wrote in the previous reflection and then make a few other Biblical notes. I previously wrote:
The world says, “To play with us you must pay the price of being with us and you must be like us, you must go along to get along and you must leave your Jesus outside.” This may not always be the case in certain seasons of life, it can be, but it might not be. Yes, it is always the bottom line with the world, but we can still make a difference, I’ll try to explain this below or in the next reflection.
Our relationship with the world is simple, yet complicated. It is simple in that those who follow Jesus belong to Him and not to the world, we are servants of Christ and citizens of heaven, there are fundamental and constitutional differences between us and the world, irreconcilable differences for the world is in rebellion against God. Our hope is to rescue the people still in the world so that they may know the love and grace and life of Jesus Christ. At one time, we were all in the slave galley of the world, shackled to its oars, toiling.
It is complicated in that the people of the world respond to us in different ways, and individuals can respond to us differently than groups. Systems generally do not respond well to us, because systems strive for dominance and self-aggrandizement, and Christ is our Lord, not anything within the world-system. (See Psalm 2, Daniel 2). We can work within ungodly systems and be blessings to others while maintaining clear testimonies to Jesus Christ, two Biblical examples of this are Joseph and Daniel.
In Joseph’s case, Potiphar’s wife sought to corrupt his faithfulness to the True and Living God and his fidelity to his earthly master, Potipher. The world and its prince of darkness will never give ground willingly and without a struggle. When we are in the world we are always working from a beachhead, we are always in enemy territory…in one sense. In one sense it is enemy territory, but in another sense, we are taking back that which belongs our Father and Lord Jesus Christ, for the glory of the Lord will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea. We are not here to escape or retreat, we are here to overcome so that we might set others free.
Joesph’s faithfulness resulted in prison, but prison resulted in exaltation, and exaltation resulted in deliverance for his family and countless others. All of God’s sons and daughters are promised exaltation in Jesus Christ, as Paul writes, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).
Within the ungodly culture of Egypt, God used Jospeh as a clear testimony to Himself and to be a blessing to others.
Daniel served within two ungodly systems, that of Babylon (the instrument God used to judge Judah and Jerusalem and the Temple), and of Persia. He had good relationships with Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonian, and with Darius the Persian. Yet, he and his friends also faced danger from jealous peers within both systems; his friends faced the fiery furnace, and Daniel paid a visit to the lions’ den. (Imagine the atmosphere prevalent in both contexts, leading to these dramatic events. While Daniel and his friends may have had the favor of Nebuchadnezzar and Darius, much of the atmosphere around them was bent on their destruction.)
When the Babylonian system fell in judgment, God preserved Daniel and he served God and Darius within the Persian system (and keep in mind that both systems were under God’s ultimate judgement, as we see in Daniel 2).
In order for us to be faithful witnesses in the world, we must live knowing that we are not of the world. If the world captures our hearts, it destroys our witness. As Jesus says, we are in the world but not of the world.
I have a friend who was once on the board of directors of a state association of businesses. As with many trade associations, members of the board worked through various “chairs” and committees from year-to-year. Eventually, if a man or woman was selected as vice-president, it was assumed that she or he would be the following year’s president of this state-wide association.
My friend worked hard, volunteering much time and creative energy within the association and was eventually selected as vice-president by his industry peers. He assumed, without a second thought, that he would be entrusted with the duties of president the following year. This is what happened, and he had a wonderful year serving the people of his industry.
After he had served his term, he found out that there had been opposition to him becoming president, opposition of which he was not aware. The opposition came from the executive director of the trade group, this person, who worked for the association and reported directly to the president, did not want my friend to become president. Why?
My friend was (and let us hope still is!) a disciple of Jesus Christ. This meant that in meetings he was not simply interested in what was best for the businesses in his industry, but that he also wanted to know what was best for the customers of the industry, and what was the right thing to do. When he dealt with public policy and state and Federal laws, he wanted to know the truth and apply it to the common good. Equity and truth were important to him because he was a servant of Jesus Christ. In other words, he would not sacrifice people for profit.
There was also the issue of general deportment, and this is a sensitive topic to write about. Let us say that when some people attend conventions and business gatherings that they like to “party,” and that others are mindful of morality, ethics, and common sense. To the disciple of Jesus Christ, the notion that “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” is a lie from the pit of hell. Some executive directors like to party hardy, and to have a president like my friend could put a damper on such behavior at industry gatherings. (He wasn’t opposed to good meals and good wine, so don’t get me wrong. He was opposed to excess stupidity.)
When the executive director approached current and former board members, and past presidents, about selecting someone else for president, the person was told absolutely not, that my friend deserved the position and that it was in the best interests of the industry for him to have it. My friend did not learn this until well after his term as president.
An irony of the story is that during the year my friend was president, the trade association quadrupled its membership, thereby giving the executive director more exposure and a higher profile than before. From all appearances, the two worked quite well together.
At the end of the last board of directors meeting that my friend chaired as president, he took the time to thank people individually for their contributions, for it had been a spectacular year for the trade group. Then he thanked Jesus for helping him through the year and for the blessing that Jesus gave him in working with each person in the room.
I am sharing this to illustrate the complexities of a life of witness. Sometimes resistance to our words and deeds in Christ is overt, sometimes it is covert, it is behind the scenes. Over the course of my friend’s career, I know of many times he has been able to counsel and pray with business associates and employees, to share the love and grace of Jesus with them. But let us note, that our words must match our deeds, and our deeds must align with our words. The quality and integrity of our work, no matter our vocations, ought to be offered to God (Colossians 3:22–24). Shoddy work and ethics do not deserve an audience, it gives the lie to our testimony for Christ, it is shameful.
Wherever our Father places us, we are there to be His witnesses to Jesus Christ; sources of Light and Life to others.
The Lord willing, we’ll touch on this a bit more in our next reflection.
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