My colleague and friend Heidi defended her doctor's thesis today and invited me to the dinner at a fine dining restaurant. It felt like coming out of a cave, since we have been working from home since March 2020 and haven't met all together since that. I have been so much in the woods lately and I prefer hiking shoes before high heels. But I have nothing against this world. We Christians are not called out of the world, but to be where the people are... even if it's sometimes easier to just be with those who think and are like yourself... or to be alone in nature.
@tanjaostman I'm not for monk-ism or anything, but isn't the very name of the Church #ekklesia i.e. #CalledOutOnes? I believe this should define us. We're In this world, but not From this world. We're called out -and our future is in heaven. Thank God.
@erdenpilger you are right! Since English is not my strongest language it's not always easy to choose the correct terms. We are called to live among the people of this world, not as eremites, as you also concluded. We are to live in the world, but not of the word, meaning the word system. I think it's possible, since it was possible for Jesus and the first Christians. Jesus was a friend of sinners, which upset the religious leaders. Frank Viola writes about the world system in the book Insurgence- Reclaming the Gospel of the Kingdom. It's a system of power and a certain mindset that's not from God. It's about putting power, money, and other gods above God.
@tanjaostman you're right too :) and your English is not worse than mine. Oftentimes, its just a question of definition...