My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. John 17:15 (NIV)
When our girls were teenagers, we did an exercise as a family in which we took the Myers-Briggs personality tests and then sat down with a therapist to unpack the results. I’ll never forget the point at which we got to the introvert-extrovert conversation. The therapist asked our daughters what they thought I was and our youngest immediately said I was an introvert. This shocked me because I am a pretty gregarious person and very comfortable in crowds. Madison explained that she assumed I was an introvert because “every morning when I wake up, Dad is by himself in the quiet reading his Bible.”
She’s not wrong, but even extroverts need regular doses of quiet.
I confess that there is something about monastic life that has always appealed to me. The simple, small, and quiet life of solitude seems so nice in a world of seemingly endless noise.
As a disciple of Jesus, however, I believe that a sequestered and cloistered life hidden from the world wasn’t what Jesus asks of me. A simple life? Yes. A quiet life? Yes. A small life? Sure. But the point is to be in the world. Just as Paul wrote to the believers in Thessalonica: “make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” The point, Paul writes, is to be where others in a complicated, noisy, crazy, and messed-up world can see the contrast. A little ray of light in a dark and chaotic world.
Today’s chapter is the final of four chapters in which John records Jesus’ final words to His disciples before he is arrested. It ends with Jesus praying. In it, Jesus not only prays for His disciples but for all who would eventually believe in Him. He then specifically prays for us to be in the world but protected from the evil one (who, for now, has dominion in the world). That’s the point. That’s the mission. I’m to provide those in my circles of influence with a contrast that they can actually see. I can’t be the light of the world if I’m hiding the light under a box. I can’t be the salt of the earth if I’m still inside the salt shaker in the cupboard. I don’t need protection from the evil one if I’m never a threat to him or his dominion.
So, in the quiet this morning I am thankful for the quiet. The discipline of taking time for quiet and meditation in the mornings helps fuel the light, adds flavor to the salt, and fills my spirit in preparation for whatever it is I might face out there today. And, believe me, I am going out there into the world. That’s where Jesus’ footsteps lead.
I’m back on Facebook for those who liked to read my chapter-a-day posts there! Facebook refuses to give me access to my old, hacked account, but I have started a new account. Please feel free to search for me on Facebook and friend me. If Facebook won’t let you friend me, please go to my Facebook profile and “Message” me on Facebook Messenger, which should then allow me to friend you. Cheers! -Tom
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My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. John 17:15-16 (NIV)
Earlier this year Wendy and I were on the back patio with friends late into the evening. One of the things we like to do in the dark of night is keep our eyes peeled for meteors, satellites, constellations, plants, and other interesting objects in the night sky. On that night I spotted a satellite, which basically looks like a moving star, trekking slowly from west to east. Then there was another one right behind it. I’d never seen two of them so close and moving in the same trajectory. Then came another, and another, and another, and another.
Pulling up the internet on my phone to find out what we were looking at, we learned that evening about the satellite train. The brainchild of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, it is a long string or “train” of 60 satellites that follow one another in orbit. SpaceX plan to eventually have 12,000 of them in low orbit to provide internet service everywhere from space. Fascinating.
It’s an amazing time to be alive and to make this earthly life journey. In the course of my lifetime, the world has arguably changed more rapidly and drastically than in any other time in human civilization. Advancements in technology and science are beginning to outpace our ability to comprehend the effects of all that it possible.
Along with the “progress” has come a sharp decline in the number of people who adhere to traditional Christian belief systems or attend institutional Christian churches. One of the things that I read consistently about this trend is the criticism that believers and churches in America haven’t done enough to address social justice issues and the problems of our world.
Today’s chapter is traditionally known in theological circles as “the high priestly prayer.” John records Jesus praying just before He was betrayed by Judas and arrested. In the prayer Jesus acknowledges two important things. First, that His followers are “not of this world.” In my experience, Jesus is acknowledging that those who follow Him have expanded their world-view beyond this earthly life to God’s eternal Kingdom. After acknowledging this, Jesus consciously chooses that His followers not be removed from this world, but protected from the same prince of this world that will see Jesus crucified within twelve hours of this prayer.
To quote Hamlet, “ay, there’s the rub.”
In this world, not of it. How do I, as a follower of Jesus, hold that tension?
That’s what my soul and mind are chewing on in the quiet this morning. And here are a few of my thoughts…
I confess that critics of Christianity are not wrong. Followers of Jesus and the institutional churches of history have not done enough adhere to personally fulfill Jesus’ mission of crossing social boundaries, loving the outcast, and caring for the poor. Mea culpa.
At the same time, history has taught me that revolutions and reformations typically paint complex realities with broad-brush generalizations, and then throw babies out with the bathwater. Despite the moans and wails of how awful of a state the world is in, here are a few undisputable facts:
In 1966 (the year I was born), 50% of the world’s population lived in extreme poverty. In 2017, that’s dropped to 9% despite population growth.
When my parents were young, average life expectancy was between 30-40 years. In two generations it’s risen to 72, and still climbing.
In 1975, 58% of children with cancer survived. By 2010, it was 80%.
In 1980, 22% of one-year-olds received at least one vaccination. In 2018 the percentage was 88%.
In 1970, 28% of the world’s population was undernourished. In 2015 that number had dropped to 11%.
In 1900, roughly 40% of children died before the age of five. By 2016 the percentage was down to 4%.
In 1980, 58% of the world’s population had access to a protected water source. By 2015 the number was 88% and climbing.
It’s easy to cast a stone at the institutional church, its members, and cast stones regarding all that it hasn’t done. I also know many believers in my own circles of influence who, led by their faith in Jesus and dedication to His mission, have given their lives to contribute to the numbers I’ve just quoted.
Scott and Marcia have helped mobilize native efforts in Eswatani Africa to care for unwanted babies, lower the spread of HIV, increase access to clean water, and improve agricultural yields to feed the local population.
Tim and an entire host of individuals in our local gathering of Jesus followers have done a similar work in Haiti. Learning from the mistakes of the past, they are helping native Haitians create sustainable and healthy life and community systems.
My college suitemate, Tim, has dedicated most of his career to helping care for impoverished children and single mothers around the globe. He’s now leading a non-profit to address the 12% of the world’s population that still need a protected water source.
I have long believed that with the technological age I may just be witnessing humanity’s next great attempt at building a tower of Babel. Instead of bricks and mortar, we’re using processors, fiber optics, CRISPR, and satellite trains. The goal is the same: nothing is impossible, and we ascend to be our own god. I find it fascinating to observe what I perceive to be “Babel 2.0” is that we largely still speak the same language but our transmission and translation are increasingly confused. What one intends to say, what they say, and what the other hears and interprets to have been said are incongruent. Language is hijacked and redefined in a moment by part of the population. New words are created, defined, and trend within one part of the population while everyone else in the population failed to notice. They are therefore ignorant and confused when they are discussed.
So what does this mean for me today? I don’t run an institution, nor do I want to. I am a follower of Jesus and, as such, I have a world-view that sees beyond this world and incorporates God’s Kingdom into my earthly existence. I seek to accomplish His mission of “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth” and I take that responsibility seriously. This earthly journey is not about biding my time until death and eternity, but rather trying to bring a Kingdom perspective into my every day intentions, choices, work, actions, and relationships.
I am in this world, a world which remains the dominion of the prince of this world, which is why Jesus prayed for my protection on that fateful night. Jesus asks me to affect this world with love, service, and generosity that He exemplified. He told His followers to be “shrewd as a serpent and gentle as a dove.”
And so, I enter another day of the journey with those intentions.
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I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one….As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. John 17:15, 18 (NRSV)
There has always been something about monastic life that has secretly appealed to me. I like the idea of leaving everything behind to live simply and humbly in quiet devotion. Whenever I hear or read about a monastery or convent, there’s a piece of my heart that envies the brothers and sisters who lead a cloistered life.
Along my journey I have recognized that there are different types of cloistered lives. In the Roman Catholic tradition it is a very specific separation from the world as the monks or nuns live in community with one another in a sequestered space. In the Evangelical tradition I have grown up in, we also have a version of the cloistered life. Our version of it is more subtle. We separate ourselves from the world while still appearing to live in it.
Our social lives revolve around our church or Christian school. We attend Christian concerts, frequent Christian bookstores, and hang out with others in Christian coffee shops. We read Christian fiction and listen to Christian music on Christian radio stations. We decorate our homes with Christian decor and watch Christian movies and Christian television programs. We put Christian bumper stickers on our cars. We may appear to live in the world, but the reality is that our lives are carefully, surgically separated and cloistered from it.
I cannot, however, escape the simple and direct statements Jesus made in today’s chapter. He is sending His followers into the world. He is not sending them to live in insulated, cloistered community where they will be safe, secure, and insulated. He is sending them into the world where there is darkness, danger and the threat of harm. That is why the Father’s protection is necessary.
Today, I am thinking about the cloistered life. It will likely never cease to appeal to me. It is not, however, the path to which I am called. Jesus calls me, not out of the world, but into the world where I am often thought strange, where I am regularly misunderstood, and where I routinely feel awkward and out of place. That’s the mission, however. It was the mission for Jesus, and it’s the mission that He gave to those of us who follow.
I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. John 17:15 (NLT)
I’ve never completely understood those who choose a cloistered existence, and at times it creates conflict within me. Our culture and our resources have afforded those who follow Jesus the opportunity to hide ourselves and our families away in a box labeled “Christian.” We live in Christian community, read Christian books from Christian publishers and listen to Christian music from Christian record labels. We send our kids to Christian schools in their Christian clothing only to return home to watch Christian programming on television. We go to Christian speakers at Christian conferences and sip lattes from the Christian coffee house afterwards. Inside our box we are safe and insulated. We are comfortable and cozy.
And, I’m afraid we kid ourselves into thinking we are “preserving the faith” while we become increasingly impotent and irrelevant to a world that desperately needs a glimmer of Light.
From the time I first started reading Jesus’ words, this verse from today’s chapter has always seared itself on my heart and brain. As Jesus prays for the twelve and for all those who would follow after, He prays specifically that Father God would not cloister us in a little box. His intention was that we take Light and Life on our journey into a world fraught with dangers, toils, and snares. In the midst of a hostile environment we will need safety and protection. That was Jesus prayer.
