Be In The World But Not Of The World

The other day I was saddened to get an email from an editor of a Christian parenting website I’d written for a lot in 2023. They’d lost their funding so wouldn’t be producing much new content anymore.

When I first became a Christian about two years ago I was a bit panicked at first. I had to take stock of the things I wrote about and the ways I made a living. I was quite amazed at how God helped me find a path, and brought me new opportunities.

When I got this news about the parenting website, even my non-believing husband said, ‘when one door closes, another opens.’ Within a few days my mind was busy whirring with new ideas, and new opportunities.

I write for a mixture of secular and Christian publications, but being a Christian in the world is a different. As the Bible tells us we must be in the world, but not of the world. Sometimes it can feel like a tricky balance. The Apostle Paul said that we ‘should remain in the condition in which he was called.’ 1 Corinthians 7:20. Most of us aren’t called to hide in the mountains and live a monk-like existence. We’ve got to get by in the world, but it feels radically different as followers of Christ. Dive into the world and we can be like undercover agents, secret Christians who don’t mention our faith. It might help us get by, but are we doing God’s work when we keep all the treasure for ourselves? Or go full on preaching the Gospel, and watch as friends and contacts drift away.

As this Christian publication has closed it’s doors, I feel the calling to get out of the Christian bubble and back into the world to earn a living, and I wonder to myself, how to be, what to say, so that I can honour God, while also earning a living while living in a fallen world?

I’m not sure what the answer is yet, but just got to keep praying and putting one foot in front of the other. One of the Bible verses that has been helpful for me recently is “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:34. Also, ‘seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.’ Matthew 6.33.

God will never let us down, though we do make things much more difficult for ourselves when we let doubts take over and worry about the distant future. He has a plan, and a future for us that may not seem clear in the present, but it will unfold and amaze us at God’s goodness.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12.2

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16.33