Session 11: Living In The World
We’re not meant to remove ourselves from the world, but to be in the world to change the world.
Spiritual formation is not just for our own benefit, but for the benefit of others.
The Practice of Living in the World:
Matthew 11:19 NKJV - The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton
and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.”
Jesus was a friend of sinners
Luke 14:1-6 NKJV - Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the
Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely. 2 And behold, there was
a certain man before Him who had dropsy. 3 And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and
Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” 4 But they kept silent. And He
took him and healed him, and let him go. 5 Then He answered them, saying, “Which of you,
having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the
Sabbath day?” 6 And they could not answer Him regarding these things.
As believers, we’re not called to scrutinize everyone’s life, but to bring healing.
Have we become so caught up in rule-following that non-believers want no part in
Jesus?
Luke 15:1-7 NKJV - Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear
Him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats
with them.” 3 So He spoke this parable to them, saying: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred
sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the
one which is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders,
rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to
them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7 I say to you that likewise
there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons
who need no repentance.
Lost sheep don’t know how to get home. We are to seek and save the lost, not wait for
the lost to find us.
John 17:14-19 NKJV - 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 pray that You should take them
out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world,
just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. 18 As You sent Me
into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that
they also may be sanctified by the truth.
We are not people trying to escape, or isolate.
Jesus was sent into the world, and yet not of the world.
Matthew 28:18 NKJV - And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been
given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them
to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end
of the age.” Amen.
“Go, therefore” is written in the present tense, properly interpreted to mean “as you go.”
We are not called to hide behind a wall, but to be ministers “as we go” in all areas of life.
We practice hospitality and community so that the world can come to know the beauty
and reality of Jesus Christ.