Not of it. Not in it.

Feathers of the Phoenix | Copyright @jordanabina 2021

Somewhere around 400 A.D. a young man found himself living in Roman Britain, present day Great Britain, growing in knowledge of the Lord through the instruction of the Roman Catholic Church. While he knew of the Lord, he didn’t serve Jesus with his heart. Because this was so long ago, there isn’t much written about his early life and most of what we know comes from writings that come later in his life. He was from a Celtic family and spoke both Latin & Welsh. At the age of 16 he was taken, sold into slavery, and left in captivity for the next 6 years of his life. During this season of his life, Jesus found him, somewhere out in the wondrous world of nature. From this point in his life, he sought Jesus with all his heart.

Later in his life, he would have a series of dreams, one of them he believed was God calling him to go to Ireland to bring the gospel. He and a group of believers would move to the island of farmers and tribal people with a goal to see the message of Christ flourish. Listen to what is said about his time there.

Most certainly he did not succeed in converting all the heathens of the island; but he won so many of them for Christ, he founded so many churches, ordained so many clerics, kindled such a zeal in men’s hearts, that it seems right to believe that to him was directly due the wonderful out-blossoming of Christianity which distinguished Ireland in the following ages

Louis Gougard, Christianity in Celtic Lands

The man was, Patricius, but to us he is known as St. Patrick. His evangelism strategy and ministry to the Celtic people have changed the world. Sadly, it wasn’t until recently that I researched more deeply into his ministry thanks to the help of some really amazing people, afterward finding many others who had been impacted by his story. I believe the example he set in the 5^th century holds keys to some of the challenges we see the church of God face today. More on him later.

First, let me bring us back to now.

There is a phrase that has been coined by Christians and has made its way to bumper stickers all over America (and only America), the phrase is in the world but not of it. Maybe you’re thinking what I’m thinking and wondering if that’s actually a verse in the Bible, it’s not. There are verses that pertain to that phrase but the words themselves have been put together by us. The idea of the words is easy to understand. For the Christian, it means you are living in this world, but you take your cues from Jesus, who is not of this world.

The words are important and true, we are not supposed to be of this world. The Bible is clear and Jesus models that love of this world leads to death and ultimately only creates obstacles between us and the Father. As we seek the Kingdom of God, we inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. To the Christian, there is nothing this world can offer us that would be of more value than what Jesus has already made possible.

We love the saying, in the world but not of it, but are we only practicing half of it? Do you know which half it is? It’s not the one you’re thinking. Let’s look to Jesus.

¹⁴ I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁵ I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.  ¹⁶ They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁷ Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

John 17:14-18

Jesus says a few things here. The first is that He’s given us His word and the world hates us for it. What this means is that it should come as no surprise to be hated, lied about, ridiculed, and ostracized for our faith. Lord help us.

Next, Jesus says something that I want you focus your attention on. As you read this passage imagine yourself as an explorer with the map to a great lost treasure, the archeologist with the brush, or maybe the blind man Jesus heals with mud. See the truth. Jesus asks God not to do something, interesting. Most of the time we pray for things, I wonder what Jesus is getting at. Jesus tells the Father that He does not want us to be taken out of the world, instead wants us to be protected.

Then after stating the famous they are not of the world as I am not of the world words, Jesus closes this thought with the words that draw us in today, as you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

Jesus says, I have sent them into this world.

I think the phrase, in the world and not of it, has really become only a half-truth to us. What we really believe, the part we really care about, and the part we protect with ferocity, are the words “not of it”.

Have we become people who are both, not of the world and also not in it?

There were a group of people in Jesus day who we were both not in the world and not of it, they were the Pharisees. They made themselves unapproachable, unrelatable, and completely disconnected from the people around them. There were people that the Pharisees wouldn’t be caught dead with in public. The perception of holiness, the perception of not being of the world, meant everything to them. They may have not been of the world, but they were never in it.

They didn’t spend time with people who were not like them. They scoffed at those types of people. And there was one person who absolutely drove them nuts, Jesus. You know why I think He drove them so crazy? I think one of the reasons was because He was loving the unlovable and not turning into someone who was unlovable himself. Meaning, Jesus was fully in the world while also being fully not of the world. The Pharisees could not believe the people Jesus was seen with, they were besides themselves with how He was behaving, and they would rather kill Him then allow it to continue.

¹⁵ While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?

Mark 2:13-17

Jesus would respond to his critics by saying, it was these types of people that He came for, and I think implies that they of all people should know that.

The response of the church in 2020 was shocking.

In the blink of an eye, the church went to war politically. In the blink of an eye, there were lines drawn between people of color. In the blink of an eye, the church was labeled as people who simply did not understand.

As I sat with a pastor during this year, reflecting about this last season, he told me he believed COVID was not the cause of the many issues we have seen take place in the last year and a half, instead it was an accelerator of the issues that already existed. I think he’s right. Half of our churches are not missing because of COVID, instead COVID accelerated what was already taking place in our churches. COVID didn’t increase domestic violence, pornography consumption, and drug use, it was an accelerator to issues that already existed.

I’m asking myself this question, has this last season shown us who we really are?

For many people who don’t consider themselves religious, let alone Christian, the church represents people who are exclusively republican, have a blind emotional affection for a specific political leader, homophobic, and do not care about people of color. I don’t believe these things are true, but I do believe this is how they feel. Some people I care about deeply have shared this with me, to my face.

And now, as it seems the world is trying to get back to normal and the phoenix of the church rises, I’m personally challenged to ask the question of myself.

While I strive to be not of this world, will I also strive to be in this world?

In the 5^th century, St. Patrick did something that had never been done to reach people for Jesus. He was living in an era when the Roman Church believed that if you were really going to be able to receive the gospel, you first needed to become civilized. It was assumed and then practiced that once you accepted Roman culture then you would be able to better receive the Gospel. So, they would bring Roman buildings, Roman churches, Roman schooling, and Roman language to the places they went. If the native people did not accept being “civilized” by the Romans, then it was assumed they were not able to receive the gospel.

St. Patrick did not believe this and instead of asking people to become Roman, he lived in the world in which he was sent and met people where they were at. He brought the gospel to the native tribes of Ireland without any intention of converting them to look like Romans. His churches were made of mud and wood because that’s what the natives made their houses from. He helped train people in a trade that could better their lives and the lives of others. The ministry St. Patrick was building met people in their everyday life, made a difference in their everyday life, and began to change their lives through the message of Jesus.

The philosophy was “belonging before believing.”

Think back to Jesus in Mark 2, eating with the wrong crew of people. What is he modeling for us? Do you think these people were believers? Do you think Jesus made sure they believed before he allowed them to feel like they belonged? Jesus didn’t distance himself from unbelievers to remain not of this world, in fact, He did the opposite. Jesus went and made people feel like they belonged, because they were made in the image of God and He introduced them to the Savior. Jesus wasn’t out to bring people into a Christian subculture, he was there to introduce them to the Father.

As the racial tension began to grow surrounding the murder Ahmaud Arbery, I must say I felt a sense of despair. Something shocked me; over and over I saw headlines and people in the African American community say that the church was complicit. I thought, How? There’s just no way I’m complicit in this! I hate this. I asked a couple mentors in my life, both African American, to help me understand what I was missing. After speaking with both of them, I realized something, I had never taken the time to pursue understanding what my African American brothers and sisters go through. It wasn’t that I didn’t care, but my life showed no signs of caring enough to ask or even do something about it.

You see a Christianity that doesn’t play a role in the real world, in the everyday lives of people, really doesn’t make sense to anyone outside the church, just as bringing a Roman culture to an Irish tribal people wouldn’t. People are wondering if we really believe the things the Bible says, they’re wondering why there’s so much fighting on social media between Christians, and they’re wondering where the church is in their pain.

I had the opportunity to speak with Pastor Ebony Small this last year about racial reconciliation and what the future holds. I highly recommend you watching or listening to this entire interview but before you continue reading, tune in and listen to her share starting at the 34:00 minute mark. I ask her to expand on how the Church can be complicit to situations going on around us.

If our faith doesn’t make a difference with the real-life struggles of this world like justice, reconciliation, peace, the health of our planet, then what does that mean? Surely, we don’t believe the what Jesus wants to do starts after death?

People are wondering if Christians even live in this world.

Is it possible that we also have let the tape run backwards and have reverted back to trying to civilize people before we evangelize to them? Hop on Instagram, check out the churches, you tell me what you see. When it comes to our lives, my actual life, do I model a belonging before believing lifestyle or do people need to come into my world so they can then meet Jesus?

I wrestled with this for about last six months; I heard God asking me this question:

Jordan, do you really want to see people come to know me?

As I’ve wondered why I even have to have this question asked I’ve realized I cannot answer this question with words, I can only answer it with my life. It comes down to will I live out both sides of the words of Jesus. First, will I be not of this world? And second, will I be in this world?

In this world means engaging with people outside of the faith, not just forming an opinion about them.
In this world means we aren’t ignorant to what’s happening in the lives of our unbelieving friends, we seek it out.
In this world means coming to grips with the fact that people aren’t running to church, but they may talk to you.

Jesus says in Matthew 28, Go into all the world. He says get in there! Engage!

The more time we spend solely thinking about how not to be of this world without also engaging in the world, the less the world will ever listen to us. Whenever the Church doesn’t look like Christ, that’s when we start getting into the most trouble. But the more time we spend in the world, both living through and for Jesus, the more we will come to see that every single person that has ever lived has been made in the image of God, every single one.

If you chose to be a Christian, you chose a hard thing. It is so hard to love people who hate me, whether they are saying it out loud or not. It is so hard. But then, even now, I think of Jesus. No one had it worse, no one. And yet, no one modeled it better.

Listen to this important reminder from C.S. Lewis:

The church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose.

C.S. Lewis

As I read that I’m reminded that Lewis isn’t talking about my local church, he’s talking about me. I have been called to share the gospel. I have been asked to go into the world. I am supposed to be growing fruit by the Spirit for the nourishment of the people around me. I am the church my unbelieving friends and family are already attending.

Jesus help us. Lead us by Your Spirit. We need You.

Could you imagine if Jesus followers started moving into neighborhoods that needed Jesus instead of neighborhoods that fit our own needs? Could you imagine the world that might follow a generation of young people who decide that they might gear their entire careers towards helping people in the name of Jesus?

The Pharisees hated Jesus because He would not stop loving the unlovable, talking to the people who hated Him, and making religious people feel uncomfortable. May we not be people who work so hard at being not of this world that we forget that were also called to be in this world, to be salt and light while we’re alive. It is such a challenge, but if we don’t answer the call, this world may never know Him.

We must become like those churches built by St. Patrick, built with the soil of the land we’ve been planted in. Let’s get drenched in the stories of the people we know who are yet to see Jesus. Let’s get busy spending time with the people the Pharisee in us seems to hate. Let’s not give off the impression that we either don’t know or don’t care about what’s happening around the world and to our fellow man. We’ve shown we can get angry, haven’t we? Who knew a mask could stir such emotions? There are deeper and darker things to be angry about, the enemy is on a rampage, let’s go to war against him.

Jesus asks the Father to not take us out of this world, it’s for a very specific reason we are here. As the Phoenix emerges, may she leave behind the version of us that strives for a man made version holiness that comes at the expense of our witness.

Much of the thoughts from this article came from a read through “A Celtic Way of Evangelism” by George Hunter. The book has shifted things in my heart and it comes at my highest recommendation.