In It, Not of It - December 27 Readings: Zechariah 9-10, Revelation 18, Psalm 147:15–20, Proverbs 31:19–21

Link to Today's Readings

As I write this, I've seen the new Star Wars movie twice. By the time you read this, that number may have gone up! (I'm working ahead because of travel plans and because I'm setting up next year's readings -  reading the New Testament chronologically, a plan I'm devising from several others.) I enjoyed it immensely. There are a few bowl games I'm deeply interested in and the NFL playoffs are getting ready to gear up. If you know me, you know I care about sports. This is a political season and the caucuses are around the corner. I have a few political opinions as well. I care about a lot of things that go on in this world.

In yesterday's readings we were introduced to "Babylon the Great." She is not great in any good sense. She is the world's system of evil which stands in opposition to God and his kingdom. God works to bring that system down. In Revelation 18 we see the ultimate downfall of system as God brings her crashing to nothing. All of man's power, his wealth, his wisdom, his armies, and his greatness is brought low in an instant.

Then, John gives this admonition, in Revelation 18:4

Come out of her, my people,      lest you take part in her sins,lest you share in her plagues

That is the eternal struggle for us as believers. We must "come out of her" and yet we still live right here, smack dab in the middle of Babylon. Some have tried to take this command literally. In the post-apostolic days, monastic monks went into the wilderness to "come out of" the wicked world. They left it behind and engaged in prayer and other spiritual pursuits, totally disconnected from the world. Today, some Christians try to cut the world out of their lives completely. The problem is that we are supposed to make disciples and it is hard to do if we treat the world like an Ebola virus we are trying to avoid.

The old saw says that we are to be "in the world but not of the world." Okay, I think that pretty well sums it up. Amen. I will agree. But I have found that very hard to do. How do I balance my loyalty to the kingdom of God and my interests in what is going on in Babylon? Was I wrong to watch Star Wars? (Twice?) Should I disconnect my cable and internet and seek a modern version of the monastic life? How do I love the Yankees without that love becoming idolatrous? Can I hate the Red Sox and the Patriots and the Alabama Crimson Tide without sinning? How engaged in Babylonian politics should I be as a citizen of heaven? There are more questions to ask than I can answer.

The key, of course, is in my heart (and yours). Where is my first love? What is my highest passion. I do not believe God minds me enjoying my life. A good meal. A fun time. A good book or a good movie. But he must be my passion, my ambition, my desire. When my heart turns to Babylon, I must heed verse 4 and "come out of her."

Father, may your Son be my driving passion every day. May the things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.