Paradoxes of the Faith In, But Not Of, the World I. Introduction A. Within the Bible, and within our faith, we may find many paradoxes B. Paradox: "A tenet or proposition contrary to received opinion, or seemingly absurd, yet true in fact," (Webster's) C. A paradox, then, exists when one of two conditions exist: a statement either seems absurd (generally because of apparent contradiction), or it runs contrary to "conventional wisdom" D. Example: "from death comes life" 1. This can be seen as paradoxical, since death is the cessation of life, and the statement appears absurd 2. Yet, when we think about how the death of one creature allows other creatures to survive on its remains, we can understand how the statement is true E. There are many paradoxes that exist in the faith, and let us spend some time examining one regarding our conduct in life F. Being in, but not of, the world 1. On the surface, this may seem to be a paradox indeed! 2. How can one be in the world yet not really "of" the world? 3. Let us spend some time looking into this matter II. In, Not Of, the World A. We can establish the Biblical truth of the paradox rather easily B. We are not to be of the world 1. 1 John 2:15-17: we are not to love the world or the things in the world 2. Romans 12:2: we are not to conform to the world 3. James 4:4: Friendship with the world leads to enmity with God C. On the other hand, we cannot leave the world! 1. John 1:10: Jesus was in the world 2. 1 Corinthians 5:9-10: Paul's intent was not to give the impression that no association at all could be had with sinners in the world, for the consequence would be having to depart from the world D. The Scriptures indeed teach, then, that we are to be "in", yet not "of", the world III. Imbalance: In and Of the World/Attempt to Avoid the World A. As we will appreciate more fully as we continue, to be in and yet not of the world requires a difficult balancing act B. Very often people will fail to keep a balance in mind C. Imbalance: In and Of the World 1. On one side of the equation, many are in the world and for various reasons fall prey to being also of the world 2. A trend in many denominations a. many have changed centuries of doctrine to be more comfortable in today's world b. "Tolerance" becomes the greatest "virtue" c. That which was well-known to be sin is now not only tolerated but apparently accepted! 3. Many people fall prey to this also a. People will often fall prey to temptations and no longer remain distinct from the world b. Perhaps they do not see "what the big deal" may happen to be, since the deceptiveness of the world is great (Hebrews 3:12-14) 4. We must strive to not conform to the world-- i.e., we cannot let the world shape us, but let us be shaped by God's Word! (Romans 12:2) a. If we live in the world, and commit sexual immorality like the world, we have let the world shape us b. If we begin to dress immodestly like the world, we have let the world shape us c. If our talk is no less coarse than that of worldly people, we have let the world shape us d. If all our friends are worldly and we engage with them in worldly behavior, we have let the world shape us (1 Corinthians 15:33) 5. Is it difficult to "sail against the wind"? Absolutely! But to err on this side of the balance is to be entrapped by sin, and the consequences are dark (Romans 6:23, Hebrews 3:12-14) D. Imbalance: Not Of, and Trying to Avoid, the World 1. The other half of the imbalance, while often more "acceptable" in the sight of many Christians, is no less dangerous 2. Many well-meaning people, in their attempt to fight against sin, attempt to quarantine themselves and/or others from the world to get away from sin 3. Ultimate examples of such would be a self-supporting commune in a rural area, or like the practices of third century hermit monks who would live in caves in the desert, avoiding and hating contact with the outside world 4. While it is a natural desire to entirely avoid "the world" as described in 1 John 2:15-17, and we certainly need to avoid conforming to sin, we must remember that Jesus came into the world to work with sinners! a. Matthew 9:10-13, Matthew 11:16-19, Luke 19:1-10 b. Jesus Himself received hostility from the self-isolating Pharisees for His actions c. That did not stop Him, however, from seeking the lost! 5. If you try to avoid the world entirely, you cannot have the influence that we are charged to have on the world around us (cf. Matthew 28:18-20, 1 Timothy 3:7, 1 Peter 2:12) 6. Furthermore, we may ourselves try to run away from the world to avoid temptation, and we may try to do the same for our children, but does it really work? a. Colossians 2:20-23 b. In context, Paul encourages the Colossians to not fall prey to regulations about avoiding food, avoiding some things as unclean, or even perhaps avoiding legitimate sexual contact so as to defeat the temptations of the flesh c. As Paul says, such attempts at asceticism in truth do nothing to help conquer the temptation for physical indulgence! d. Not eating is not going to make it easier to avoid over-eating e. As recent Roman Catholic priest scandals attest, imposing celibacy does not make it easier to avoid temptations to sexual immorality f. In short, avoiding the world in and of itself does not make avoiding or not falling for temptation any easier! 7. In truth, attempting to avoid sin by avoiding the world is like trying to have an entirely sanitary environment a. We live in a germ-phobic society b. Everything is anti-bacterial this, anti-bacterial that, anti-viral such-and-such c. Now, in the medical profession, such sanitary measures have led to a better quality of life for everyone d. The very young, very old, and weak are able to continue to live because of sanitary conditions e. On the other hand, overzealousness with sanitation does lead to problems f. First of all, bacteria begin to develop resistance to anti-bacterial things! g. Secondly, and most relevant to us, is that over-sanitation leads to the exact opposite of the intended purpose: it leads to sicker people, not healthier, because the immune system is not being constantly challenged to develop and grow! h. Germs are a part of life: some bacteria is actually beneficial, and while we may strive to get rid of every bad germ in our house, we cannot in truth sanitize the world, and in the end immune systems are weaker because of overprotection from germs 8. Just as we in the physical realm cannot sanitize the world from germs, neither can we sanitize the world from sin in the spiritual realm a. Likewise, just as hyper-sanitation can lead to weaker immune systems and greater illness, so can over-protection lead to later rebellion and a worse decline into sin b. The impulse to over-protect is understandable; we do not want to fall into sin, and we do not want our children to either! c. Yet we all know that we do at times fall into sin, and we recognize that every generation has to make some mistakes in order to learn, unfortunately! d. We do not like seeing ourselves or our children get ill; we recognize, however, that if we and/or our children survive, we're the stronger for it e. Likewise, we do not want to sin, nor do we want our children to sin, but at the same time we and our children must live in this world, and it is better to spend the short time we have trying to learn how to live in the world and not be of it, making some mistakes along the way f. As we have seen, we do need boundaries, and we must strive to follow God's Word in all things, yet temptation is there no matter what fences we may try to put up, and we do ourselves and/or our children a disservice if we try to over-protect and shun the world E. We can see, then, that it is easy to get out of balance, and either be too worldly or too zealous in avoiding the world F. How do we strike the balance? IV. Striking the Balance: In, Not Of, the World A. Jesus, of course, is the ultimate example of the balance 1. He came into the world, yet was not of the world (John 1) 2. As we have seen, He associated with sinners (Matthew 9:10-13, Matthew 11:16-19, Luke 19:1-10) 3. On the other hand, He did spend time alone in prayer (John 6:15) 4. He was without sin, despite being tempted in all points (Hebrews 4:15) 5. We, of course, have fallen to temptation (Romans 3:23), but we should still strive to follow His example (1 Corinthians 11:1) B. Matthew 5:13-16 illustrates the need for the balance 1. An excellent passage describing how we are to live 2. v. 13-- salt of the world-- an exhortation to not be of the world, for to be of the world is to lose distinctiveness and therefore to be worthless 3. v. 14-- city on a hill-- an exhortation to not avoid the world, for to try to be outside of the world is impossible, just as it is impossible to hide a city on a hill 4. vv. 15-16-- light-- another exhortation to not avoid the world, for it is as useless to light a lamp and hide the light as it is to be a Christian and avoid the world C. Is the balance easy? By no means! 1. We all get imbalanced, either in being too much like the world or trying to run too hard away from it 2. We need to remember the balance, however, and continue to seek it D. Let us follow the example of our Lord and strive to live in the world and be an influence to those around us, yet avoiding the sin that so easily entangles us! E. Songbook/invitation F. Perhaps you are in the world and not of Christ-- you can repent today G. Perhaps you are a Christian and not in balance; you can seek to no longer be of the world or to no longer try to over-protect yourself from the world today H. Perhaps you simply require encouragement today I. However we can help, please let us do so; come to the front as we stand and sing