Monday, January 09, 2006

on being in the world and not of it...

I have been thinking about this quite a bit this weekend. On Friday someone at work asked me about the sin of "being a friend to the world". They were reading a book that mentioned a variety of sins... the sin of busyness... they got that one but they did not get how being a friend to the world was a sin?

Since I have no idea what context this bit of writing finds itself I was hardpressed to comment... but I did say that as christians we are taught that we should live in the world and not of it... but then I had to explain that... just how do we do this? How do we do it successfully? I think confession plays a huge role in accountability. To know when to walk away from something. To recognize when something else has taken the place of God in our lives...

This for me is a constant struggle, particularly since I work for a corporation. It weighs on me constantly....

We do not value the things the world values.... we are different than the world. Father L talks about living counter culturally - swimming upstream. I talk about this with my children constantly. They need to know the world will and does view them as oddballs. But, they are oddballs within the context of a community. I will do my children no favours if I mince words. Life will be hard and they will face challenges. I need to equip them with the knowlege that God will not give them a cross they cannot carry.

We have also been discussing free will in our house. Why does God allow us to choose between good and evil? Why do people leave the church? These are big topics but Glory to God I am discussing these ideas with my children. I grew up in a non religious/ christian household. God was not even part of my vocabulary or world view until I was 17. Amazing.

5 comments:

Kassianni said...

this is why i'm so happy that avery counts hannah and esme as her true best friends.
her friends at school she really likes a lot, but she considers hannah and esme (and emma, christina, etc.) to be her 'sisters', as truly they are.
it's a good weird, and I'm grateful that she has them, and that she feels so much love for them. these friendships will sustain her.
they'll be our age someday, talking about stuff they did when they were babies.

Gabe said...

Yes, I must say that growing up in the orthodox church with about five other guys and girls my age was a real blessing. They(your kids) will be very thankful for this one day.

thomasw said...

people leave the church for two main reasons:

1. they are weak

2. they fall into a temptation because of <1.>

***isn't it wonderful to have a simple-minded summarizer around the house?

mamachurchmouse said...

Thomas, I would add a third main reason:

3) they are seriously sinned against by people in the church (clergy or other laity) and they thus lose trust in the Church.

But I agree with your other 2 points. Are they really 2 separate things?

thomasw said...

churchmouse-
i'd say your #3 is a specific subset of #2.
do you see it?

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