"Not Of This World"

Hey, Y'all,

Today's (somewhat crankified :-) RST is a follow-up to the "Flocks and Fields" one, but the funny thing is that it actually preceded and helped crystallize it. So anyway, here we go...

Observed the other day (for the nth time) a giant sticker in a car window stating in oversized pseudo-goth wannabe-hardcore font: "Not Of This World."

Muttered under my breath (for the nth time): "Not Of This World!" (yes, I did do the sarcastic 'air quotes' -- ask Evonne). "Not Of This World? Not of any use whatsoever!"

Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. Before I get thirty e-mails explaining the concept using really small words, it's OK, Mr. Grumpypants gets it: "in" and not "of" blahbittyblah, I get it. I'm just sayin'.

It's the too-often seen underlying sentiment that perturbs me--you probably know what I'm talking about. It goes a little like this:

"Not Of This World."
I'm a little bit better than you.
I have more Light. I have The Truth.
I need to stay away from you lest you soil me because
(wait for it)
I am not of this world; I'm just holding my nose and waiting for the next one.

So why does that sticker aggravate me? Because it seems to me that that is not how we're supposed to live. Even a casual glance at the gospels shows us that Christ was very much of this world. And before I get those thirty e-mails again, let me just remind you: He is the Son of God but He also repeatedly calls Himself the Son of Man. Jesus got His hands dirty--touching lepers, making mud with which to cure blind men, relishing interaction with all manner of questionable characters (you and me chief among them, I might add :-).

And just in case it wasn't completely clear, in His "opening manifesto" (The Sermon On The Mount recorded in Matthew 5, 6, and 7) He pointedly states, "You are the salt of the earth...You are the light of the world." Salt in the shaker is of no use whatsoever; neither is a light that won't shine.

So how 'bout it: are you "of this world" or not?

You've been prayed for today...

J