Reflection
Now I will no longer be in the world,
but they are in the world, while I am coming to you.
John 17:11
Jesus did not expect his followers to live in isolation. We are meant to live in the tension of the now, in Can we? the tension of being where we are and of still being who we are. We are women and men of the 21st century, normal people within the culture of a particular nation, immersed in all the advantages and perils of our world at this historic time. Our beliefs matter. The challenge is to be in the community, in the work force, in the family, in the church and in all our relationships as “salt” and “light”. Daily, our senses are pounded by local, national, and international news, media of all kinds, social pressures and violence. As we consider our society’s ways of thinking and acting, what does it mean for us to be “in the world” but to live differently? Can we? Are we willing?
Prayer
Confirm us in truth.
Action
How is our lifestyle influenced by our culture? How does it impact on our attitudes when we shop, listen to the news, reject people or ideas, educate our children, and do all the usual things in life?
Suggested Reading
I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world.
They belonged to you, and you gave them to me,
and they have kept your word.
Now they know that everything you gave me is from you,
because the words you gave to me I have given to them,
and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you,
and they have believed that you sent me.
I pray for them.
I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me,
because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours
and everything of yours is mine,
and I have been glorified in them.
And now I will no longer be in the world,
but they are in the world, while I am coming to you.
John 17:1-11a
Let us all remember this: one cannot proclaim the Gospel of Jesus without the tangible witness of one’s life.
Pope Francis
Make sure of your commitment to Jesus Christ, and seek to follow Him every day. Don’t be swayed by the false values and goals of this world, but put Christ and His will first in everything you do.
Billy Graham
Jesus teaches us another way: Go out. Go out and share your testimony, go out and interact with your brothers, go out and share, go out and ask. Become the Word in body as well as spirit.
Pope Francis
Jesus is ideal and wonderful, but you Christians – you are not like him.
Mahatma Gandhi
Jesus does not give recipes that show the way to God as other teachers of religion do. He is himself the way.
Karl Barth
The world needs to see Christians burning, not with self-righteous fury at the sliding morals in our country, but with passion for God.
Kevin DeYoung