¹⁶ “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”

Reality check – we Christians are not of this world! Not the disciples in the Upper Room, not us today. God looks at the human population and sees two kinds or categories of people, those who are His and those who are not. Those who are followers of Jesus Christ and those who are not. Christians are not just a “kind” of people, like Muslims, Hindus, and others—just one variety among many. No, there is a sharp divide. Jesus referred to the last judgment as a time of separating the sheep from the goats (Matt 25:32). The wheat and the weeds (Matt 13:25). The saved and the lost. Those who are spiritually alive and those who are spiritually dead. The Bible is very clear about this. And in our passage today, there is “the world” and there are those who follow Jesus Christ. They are “in the world” but not “of the world.”

Of the 98 times the term “world” occurs in the gospel accounts, 78 of those times are in the Gospel according to John. A few times, it refers to the physical world and all that is in it (John 13:35). It can refer to the entire population of humanity (as in John 3:16). It can also be used to refer to the whole world system (John 16:26). But there are times when the word “world” seems to refer to the unbelieving populace, which according to Matthew 7:13 is the majority of people. Contrary to the popular songs, we are not the world. We are in it, but not part of it.

Jesus left His disciples in the world to be the salt and light (Matt 5:13-16). We are aliens in this world (1 Peter 2:11) but are here on assignment as emissaries from a heavenly world, and with a message: “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20).

Living in the world, we of course have all the same physical, tangible needs as non-Christians, and we live in the same culture as those around us. But we are spiritually different. We are those who have been redeemed through the blood of Christ. When we share the gospel with others, we are simply “sinners showing other sinners where to find forgiveness.”

In His prayer, Jesus says that our relationship to the world is the same as His. He was in the world, but not “of” the world. And He is still not “of” the world. He is above the world, He is beyond the world. Yet He is very present in the world, reaching out through Christians, through you and me to a world that desperately needs to know Him.

Lord, I confess that too often I have acted like I was “of” the world. I resolve afresh to be Your ambassador to share the good news to this fallen world.