In, Not Of

Youth Group makes clothes for Ghana.

In Luke 11, and more famously in Matthew 6, Jesus offered a model prayer for his disciples to follow when praying to God. It is often referred to as The Lord’s Prayer. But it is simply a model. The actual Lord’s Prayer is found in John 17. Speaking of His 11 disciples (Judas excluded) Jesus says three times that they are “in” the world: vs 11, “they are in the world,” vs 18, “I have sent them “into” the world”, and more obtusely in vs 15, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world.” Two times Jesus says that His disciples are not of the world: vs 14, “they are not of the world,” and vs 16, “they are not of the world.”

Clearly, a very important part of Jesus’ prayer to His father as He neared the completion of His earthly mission centered around the fact that Jesus intended for His followers to be ‘in‘ the world while at the same time they would not be ‘of’ the world. That necessarily implies that Jesus felt strongly about this concept, ‘in, not of.’ That concept does not apply to Jesus disciples in the first century, unless it equally applies to His disciples in the modern age. Today, Jesus’ people, Christians, while in the world, cannot be of the world.

How does that work? How do we do that? What does it mean in practical application? It is the intention of this article to provide an answer to those questions. Notice, I’m not claiming to provide ‘the’ answer. There may be several aspects to this principle so I make no claim to provide ‘the quintessential’ answer that everyone is looking for. I hope, at least, to take a swipe at the hem of the garment. Maybe we can learn something.

In Col. 3:22-23, Paul writes, “ Servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart fearing God: and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not men.” The third chapter of Colossians contains practical statements about how one should conduct themselves if their goal is to be pleasing to God. Some items discussed are specific, others are more general. It makes a good study for one trying to be more like what God desires from us. Here, when he uses the term ‘menpleasers’ Paul is referring to the manner in which you live your life.

He specifically calls out servants relative to masters, saying that servants should not be ‘menpleasers.’ Last week’s article was titled, “Replacing Don’ts with Dos.” That idea is at work here. Don’t be a ‘menpleaser.’ Do work as to the Lord. Do be a Godpleaser. This is one way a Christian is different from a non-Christian. It is a major way that while we are living our lives in the world, we are really not of the world.

A non-Christian who follows his bosses order ‘to a T’ is trying to please, and hoping to be noticed by, his boss. A Christian who follows his boss’s orders in the same way does not do so out of concern for his earthly boss. A Christian is trying to please God, trying to serve God, and trying to bring glory to God. The earthly boss is merely an ancillary figure who happens to derive a benefit from the Christian serving God.

If you are serious about being a Christian (and if you’re not, can you explain what it is that you are doing?) you must obey your work supervisor, singlemindedly, sincerely and heartily, because you honor and respect God. You obey your supervisor as a result of your love for and obedience to God. This is what a Christian does, and it separates a Christian from a non-Christian. Note that a non-Christian may be a hard worker and they may do an excellent job, but their motivation is different from the Christian’s. The non-Christian seeks the praise of and attempts to please men. The Christian may please men, but it is because he seeks to please God that men notice his work ethic. But pleasing men does not register with the Christian.

The phrase in this verse that should take over our life as a Christian because it enters into every facet of what we do (notice the wording) is: “whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord.” So even though we may be working for another person, what drives us is how we serve God. It may be another man that has given me the task at hand, but I perform that task as though I was performing it for God, and if there is confusion about what that means, Paul clears that up when he says, “do it heartily, as to the Lord.” Do it heartily.

Paul also says, “whatsoever you do.” That doesn’t leave very much out. In fact, technically speaking, it doesn’t leave anything out. That tells me that if I am ever doing anything, I should do it with the consideration of how God would want it done if I were doing it for Him. “Whatsoever you do” means everything that you do. So I never get a break here.

However, God has shown himself to be reasonable in most every respect. For example, we considered “be angry and sin not,” from Eph. 4:26 in the Trying to Walk article, “Replacing Don’ts with Dos.” Paul’s admonition to live peaceably with all men in Romans 12:18, contains the caveats, “if possible”, and “as much as lieth in you.” God acknowledges that some people just will not be agreeable.

It is reasonable to assume that God is not concerned with how heartily you drink your orange juice, for example. So there would seem to be exceptions. What is not included in that list of exceptions is anything that you are doing for somebody else, or in a manner that will affect somebody else. These things should not be done as if you were doing them for someone else, but as if you were doing them for God. Included in the admonition is the explicit concept that God expects these things to be done heartily.

If the other person is your boss, then whatever your boss may assign you to do becomes a top priority for you because of your love for God and your desire to please God. You work heartily at whatever that assignment is. You work diligently to get it done well and in a timely fashion. Think about it. Your boss gives you an assignment and you go to work for God. You are ‘in’ this world, but not ‘of’ this world. Your human boss is a secondary consideration because your life is dedicated to pleasing God and bringing glory to Him by approaching your assignment diligently and heartily.

Your elderly neighbor lady asks you to help get her yard mowed and raked in the fall. You go to work for God. You mow, every where. You use a string trimmer and an edger. You rake and gather leaves and clippings. You use a leaf-blower on the sidewalks, patios, curbside, etc. to clean them. If you think not, explain to me how Col. 3:22-23 leaves that out. The question to ask is do you really seek the kingdom of God first (Matt.6:33) or are you all about satisfying your own pleasures? I can see that a person who is ‘of this world’ would not agree with this approach.

Your parents need some help caring for their house. There should not be a need for a request. You go to work for God. You should be involved in their lives enough, if you are grown and on your own, or you live at home and totally know the situation. You vacuum, even if you have to move furniture. You scrub what needs to be scrubbed. You clean what needs to be cleaned being careful to do it well. If painting is required you do it carefully and meticulously. You do it “as to the Lord”. You are not of this world, just in it. You are about pleasing and bringing glory to God.

You volunteer to help someone at Lowe’s load a cart load of 2X6’s on their truck. You go to work for God. You stack them carefully and arrange them so they won’t slide. Perhaps you work with this person to load the truck and you become the best work partner they could possibly have. When finished you roll the cart back into the store. In reality, although you have been a great help to the person, you did this work “as to the Lord.” No, I’m not missing that you would be happy to have helped another person because that is part of a Christian attitude. I hope we all are not missing that we are in the world and not of the world and that is the reason we do our work, “as to the Lord.”

These examples could go on and on, but the idea is clear. Whenever someone needs, or a boss demands, you fulfill their needs or assignments. However, you work as if you are performing the task for God. You work single-mindedly. You work heartily. The people surrounding the issue are important, but secondarily so.

As always should be the case in the life of a Christian, God is the primary focus. By fulfilling His will you will be true to your calling and the people involved will be struck by your conduct in a good way. But it is not about them. You are not trying to impress them. If you are, the whole of your activity is a distraction to what your life should be about. You are not trying to impress God either, because you can’t. No one can. You are trying to please Him, serve Him, glorify Him. You accomplish that when “whatsoever you do” you “do it as to the Lord,” because although you are in the world, you are not of the world.