“I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.” (John 17:14, NLT)
I was sitting across from a woman who had all the symptoms of depression. As a counselor, I could see the symptoms clearly. She couldn’t smile, even when others were joking before her. She kept to herself. She held back her emotions. She seemed sad. Her eyes didn’t smile, even when around close friends. There were other “tells”. Then, she gave the remark that clinched it. She said out loud to her husband in a soft voice which I overheard, “Have you ever sat in a room of fifty people and felt absolutely and utterly alone?”
Like this depressed woman feeling absolutely alone in a room filled with happy people, Christians will at times feel like they are utterly alone in a world full of people. They will feel like they don’t belong. They will be shocked by news reports. While watching a TV show, they will cringe at some of the crude statements made by the actors or the denigrating premise of the program. Seeing a picture in the newspaper of a child who has been molested will make their stomach acid flow. Reading an article about a serial rapist will make them slightly nauseous as the details are given. You may find yourself recoiling while reading social media, twisting up your face at the brazen sickness of the acts making news, or angry at the sinful events that are promoted as inclusive, insightful, or newsworthy. Let’s be honest; worldliness disgusts you. You find sinful actions disgusting. Your heart drops when you hear stories of injustices, abuse, neglect, or greed. That’s what its like for a true disciple of Jesus in the world today. You don’t belong. You won’t fit. You will feel out of place. And that, dear child of God, is exactly how you should feel!
Max Lucado added his own wisdom to this line of thinking. He wrote: “We don’t always feel welcome here on earth. We wonder if there is a place here for us. People can make us feel unwanted. Tragedy leaves us feeling like intruders. Strangers. Interlopers in a land not ours. We don’t always feel welcome here.
We shouldn’t. This isn’t our home. To feel unwelcome is no tragedy. Indeed it is healthy. We are not home here. This language we speak, it’s not ours. This body we wear, it isn’t us. And the world we live in, this isn’t home.” (p. 157, Grace for the Moment).
What Max Lucado is saying, and Jesus gave words to in the scripture for today, is that this world isn’t our real “home”. Heaven is where we belong. Heaven is our eternal home. It is where we “fit in”. It is where our heart and soul feel most comfortable and at ease. This world is nothing like Heaven. It is “foreign land”. In the scripture for today, Jesus prayed to God the Father that because He “gave the disciples the Holy Word”…. It only made them “hated” by the world. It made them outsiders, who no longer “belong to the world” (John 17:14). Once you believe in Jesus and accept the truth of the gospel, the falsehood and fakeness and sinfulness of the world become increasingly obvious. The more you trust in Jesus, the more you will feel "off" with the lies of this world. Your soul will recognize the false dreams that the world gives. Your heart will long for the truth, for real love, for grace and forgiveness.
Hollywood, California is the home for many actors, actresses, studios, production houses, and more. It is a city known internationally as the nerve center for movies and television. The city is full of moviemakers seeking to make it big. Money flows toward new and novel ideas for entertainment. One shouldn’t be surprised in this “city of lights” that there is so much fake. I mean, the city is full of actresses and actors, right?
Recently, an actor spoke up about the fakeness of Hollywood. He noted that often friends are not really friends. It feels like everyone is out to make a buck. The city is full of people who are “used” and people who “use” others. He mentioned that women are seen as sex objects. Men are objectified. Illegal drugs are a means of entertainment. In the interview with the actor, he responded that in time, people use the drugs to escape their situation. They have surgeries to enhance their suitability for roles or relationships. They use sex and money as pawns in games of power. It’s a “dog eat dog” kind of world. The actor then mentioned that he misses “real people, real conversations, the truth, and honesty.”
There are many places in this world where false truths, lies, and cover-ups are the norm. Even where you live, you will find people who are fake, promises that are really lies, conversations that are one-sided, and people who are out for themselves. It’s not that I’m being overly negative or purposefully preachy. That’s what the world is like. That’s what a worldly person is like. Where worldliness exists, lies will be sold as the truth, people will be manipulated, life will be cheap, morals will change, values will be frowned upon, and sinful acts will run rampant. Violence will become commonplace. The truth will get muddied or lost. Spirituality will be downplayed. Faith will be seen as backwardness. AND the true believer will never feel comfortable in places of worldliness and among worldly people. You see, where Jesus and the gospel are lived out, the opposite will be found. A little bit of Heaven will appear. The truth will be celebrated. Grace and forgiveness will be given. Life will be precious. Values will be promoted. God’s kind of love will be supreme. Peace will endure.
A young woman named Carmen walked into the pastor’s office. She was new to the faith. She was raised in a home where the Bible was seen as backward. Science was promoted as perfection. Grace was a name, not a practice. Forgiveness had a cost. Carmen was having problems coping with the death of her best friend. At the request of her husband, Carmen visited with the pastor and asked for help.
After a few counseling sessions, Carmen and the pastor prayed as usual to end their time together. However, on that night, something changed. The prayer time did not seem “usual” to Carmen. For the first time in her life, Carmen felt the love of Jesus coming to her. She began to truly feel the peace of God descending over her. Surprised, she turned to the pastor after their prayer together and said, “Why do I feel better tonight after praying?” The pastor responded, “Maybe because you now see a little of Heaven on this earth?” He was right. Grace and forgiveness and faith and love were no longer just words. Carmen was beginning to accept Jesus into her heart, believe the gospel, and understand her place in the faith. As she left the pastor’s office, the world looked very different than it did just an hour before.
Something changes in you when God’s Spirit enters your soul. You begin to connect with Heaven. Then again, the world becomes a foreign place. As Jesus said in our scripture for today, you will no longer feel like you belong in the world. You will long for Heaven. Your heart will be set on a discovery of faith. Right and wrong will change. The truth will become apparent. So will the lies. Then, you will no longer feel at home in the world.
Have you committed yourself fully to Jesus? If so, don’t be surprised when you just don’t “fit in” with this world. Your home is in Heaven. Your heart is with Jesus. Your mind will no longer be at ease with sinfulness. Love will mean a whole lot more.
Like this depressed woman feeling absolutely alone in a room filled with happy people, Christians will at times feel like they are utterly alone in a world full of people. They will feel like they don’t belong. They will be shocked by news reports. While watching a TV show, they will cringe at some of the crude statements made by the actors or the denigrating premise of the program. Seeing a picture in the newspaper of a child who has been molested will make their stomach acid flow. Reading an article about a serial rapist will make them slightly nauseous as the details are given. You may find yourself recoiling while reading social media, twisting up your face at the brazen sickness of the acts making news, or angry at the sinful events that are promoted as inclusive, insightful, or newsworthy. Let’s be honest; worldliness disgusts you. You find sinful actions disgusting. Your heart drops when you hear stories of injustices, abuse, neglect, or greed. That’s what its like for a true disciple of Jesus in the world today. You don’t belong. You won’t fit. You will feel out of place. And that, dear child of God, is exactly how you should feel!
Max Lucado added his own wisdom to this line of thinking. He wrote: “We don’t always feel welcome here on earth. We wonder if there is a place here for us. People can make us feel unwanted. Tragedy leaves us feeling like intruders. Strangers. Interlopers in a land not ours. We don’t always feel welcome here.
We shouldn’t. This isn’t our home. To feel unwelcome is no tragedy. Indeed it is healthy. We are not home here. This language we speak, it’s not ours. This body we wear, it isn’t us. And the world we live in, this isn’t home.” (p. 157, Grace for the Moment).
What Max Lucado is saying, and Jesus gave words to in the scripture for today, is that this world isn’t our real “home”. Heaven is where we belong. Heaven is our eternal home. It is where we “fit in”. It is where our heart and soul feel most comfortable and at ease. This world is nothing like Heaven. It is “foreign land”. In the scripture for today, Jesus prayed to God the Father that because He “gave the disciples the Holy Word”…. It only made them “hated” by the world. It made them outsiders, who no longer “belong to the world” (John 17:14). Once you believe in Jesus and accept the truth of the gospel, the falsehood and fakeness and sinfulness of the world become increasingly obvious. The more you trust in Jesus, the more you will feel "off" with the lies of this world. Your soul will recognize the false dreams that the world gives. Your heart will long for the truth, for real love, for grace and forgiveness.
Hollywood, California is the home for many actors, actresses, studios, production houses, and more. It is a city known internationally as the nerve center for movies and television. The city is full of moviemakers seeking to make it big. Money flows toward new and novel ideas for entertainment. One shouldn’t be surprised in this “city of lights” that there is so much fake. I mean, the city is full of actresses and actors, right?
Recently, an actor spoke up about the fakeness of Hollywood. He noted that often friends are not really friends. It feels like everyone is out to make a buck. The city is full of people who are “used” and people who “use” others. He mentioned that women are seen as sex objects. Men are objectified. Illegal drugs are a means of entertainment. In the interview with the actor, he responded that in time, people use the drugs to escape their situation. They have surgeries to enhance their suitability for roles or relationships. They use sex and money as pawns in games of power. It’s a “dog eat dog” kind of world. The actor then mentioned that he misses “real people, real conversations, the truth, and honesty.”
There are many places in this world where false truths, lies, and cover-ups are the norm. Even where you live, you will find people who are fake, promises that are really lies, conversations that are one-sided, and people who are out for themselves. It’s not that I’m being overly negative or purposefully preachy. That’s what the world is like. That’s what a worldly person is like. Where worldliness exists, lies will be sold as the truth, people will be manipulated, life will be cheap, morals will change, values will be frowned upon, and sinful acts will run rampant. Violence will become commonplace. The truth will get muddied or lost. Spirituality will be downplayed. Faith will be seen as backwardness. AND the true believer will never feel comfortable in places of worldliness and among worldly people. You see, where Jesus and the gospel are lived out, the opposite will be found. A little bit of Heaven will appear. The truth will be celebrated. Grace and forgiveness will be given. Life will be precious. Values will be promoted. God’s kind of love will be supreme. Peace will endure.
A young woman named Carmen walked into the pastor’s office. She was new to the faith. She was raised in a home where the Bible was seen as backward. Science was promoted as perfection. Grace was a name, not a practice. Forgiveness had a cost. Carmen was having problems coping with the death of her best friend. At the request of her husband, Carmen visited with the pastor and asked for help.
After a few counseling sessions, Carmen and the pastor prayed as usual to end their time together. However, on that night, something changed. The prayer time did not seem “usual” to Carmen. For the first time in her life, Carmen felt the love of Jesus coming to her. She began to truly feel the peace of God descending over her. Surprised, she turned to the pastor after their prayer together and said, “Why do I feel better tonight after praying?” The pastor responded, “Maybe because you now see a little of Heaven on this earth?” He was right. Grace and forgiveness and faith and love were no longer just words. Carmen was beginning to accept Jesus into her heart, believe the gospel, and understand her place in the faith. As she left the pastor’s office, the world looked very different than it did just an hour before.
Something changes in you when God’s Spirit enters your soul. You begin to connect with Heaven. Then again, the world becomes a foreign place. As Jesus said in our scripture for today, you will no longer feel like you belong in the world. You will long for Heaven. Your heart will be set on a discovery of faith. Right and wrong will change. The truth will become apparent. So will the lies. Then, you will no longer feel at home in the world.
Have you committed yourself fully to Jesus? If so, don’t be surprised when you just don’t “fit in” with this world. Your home is in Heaven. Your heart is with Jesus. Your mind will no longer be at ease with sinfulness. Love will mean a whole lot more.