[As Jesus prays for his disciples] I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer, though, is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world I have sent them into the world, sanctified in the same way I was sanctified. John 17:14-19
Here is the task: try to understand what it means to be in the world but not of the world. In Christian history, many tried to remove themselves from worldly or secular activity by escaping to the desert, living separately from each other and world activity. Given that the world offers so much suffering and temptation, it's easy to see why so many took this directive to not be of the world to be an escape clause.
Clearly, though, Jesus does not ask his disciples to be removed, but rather to live in the world but not be of it. In fact, in this prayer, Jesus names the way for this dichotomy existence: sanctified in the truth. Sanctification is to be made holy or consecrated...in the truth, especially in the truth of God and the realities and duties of being a person of God. This is the ultimate exercise of our lives.
How does one stay out of this world when one is enmeshed in the daily struggle of the pressing conflicts and demands of a fallen world? What corruption do we need to become aware of and avoid?
Henry Nouwen, spiritual author and advisor, discusses this corruption by calling attention to what he calls "social compulsion: "a dangerous network of domination and manipulation in which we easily get entangled and then lose our soul." Those are strong words...dangerous...domination...entangled...and they described corruption very well. To use a current metaphor of technology (phones and computers), when files are corrupted, they are inaccessible and unusable.
There it is! We can't control the social construct, but we can do those things which preserve our soul, namely, to stay connected and usable by God.
I admit that the world offers its domination as manipulation to birth success-laden lies which derail our effort to stay connected and usable by God. Let me name some:
when material goods and wealth no longer serve me or God, but rather I serve them.
high-performance mentality that puts me first (above God) and fed by others' approval (instead of God).
feeding my sensual mentality over my spiritual mentality
suffering, by any cause, which interrupts my peace and patience
blessing, which I seek with greater exuberance than I seek God.
When cares and pleasures, obstacles and challenges can entangle me like fishing lines, I tend to focus only on the knots created by them instead of the Lord. Yet, I am called to live in this messy, entangled and stimulating world, ever present and available to the Lord. Can I stay engaged and attached to the body of living: my own and whole body of humanity and not lose my soul?
I propose that we discover to seek no more or less than God's offer of life in the world, learning how and then leading others in how to stay focused on God and sanctified by His truths - ever dependent upon his truths and not the world's.