In but not of the world

We are familiar with the phrase: the Christian is in the world but not of the world. The Gospel today is a source to that clarification of the nature of our relationship with the world around us. Jesus instructed us that we are to give to Caesar (in other words, the world) what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.

This relationship between the Christian and the world is amplified in other places in the New Testament.

For example, in St John’s Gospel, Jesus says to his disciples at the Last Supper (Jn 15:19):

If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you do not belong to the world, because my choice withdrew you from the world, therefore the world hates you.

Jesus says that he himself has withdrawn us from the world. We live in the world but do not belong to the world. We desire to be good citizens. We do not reject rightful authority and the rule of law. But our hearts are set on an eternal kingdom. As Jesus instructed us, we seek first the Kingdom of God (Mt 6:33).

Thus, while living in the world we do not want to become conformed to it. This is precisely what St Paul reminded the Romans (Rom 12:2),

Do not model yourselves on the behaviour of the world around you, but let your behaviour change modelled by your new mind.

Our new mind is that which is in enlightened by our faith. However, we know that the world is very enticing and we can easily compromise ourselves. We can nominally be Christian but live our daily life emmeshed in the world.

We cannot take our faith for granted. We must be constantly attentive to our inner, spiritual life.

That is why it is so important that we read the Sacred Scriptures deeply respecting them as the living Word of God. We don’t allow ourselves to reduce them to the limits of our human understanding – to interpret them from a worldly perspective. We treat the Scriptures as being inspired by the Holy Spirit. We know that they offer a wisdom beyond human wisdom. They are a source of eternal and enduring truth.

However, at the same time we are not meant to isolate ourselves from the world. We do live in the world and are meant to engage with the world around us. We are to be a Christian presence in the world – salt and light, as Jesus reminded us. “You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world” (see Mt 5:13-16).

We have a role of being a sanctifying presence in the world. We are to be missionary disciples in the world. We are called to witness to our faith and bring others to know and love and serve Jesus Christ.

We know, also, that we live in an increasingly hostile ideological environment. We don’t fit in with many of the ways our culture is unfolding. While this may make us feel uncomfortable, we are reminded of the statement of Jesus: “Alas for you if the world thinks well of you”. Jesus is very aware that we will not find ourselves abiding comfortably with the attitudes, values and behaviours of the world around us.

It is good if we accept this. We see ourselves as travellers through this world with our hearts set of the world that will never end. We live in the world but we long for our homeland which is in heaven.

This can give us a great freedom of spirit.

So, there is this ambivalent situation in which we find ourselves. Our first responsibility as Christians is to be faithful to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We are to be his disciples first and always.

You may be aware that at the current synod in Rome there are many voices urging the Church to change with the times.

The argument is often put that these changes are necessary to bring the Church in tune with the times and so be relevant to the people of our time. We are told that we must not be on “the wrong side of history”. To many these ideas seem perfectly reasonable and sensible. Surely, they think, we must move with the times.

However, such innovations must be tested, especially against the norms of our faith – the teaching of the Sacred Scriptures and the apostolic tradition.

One Father of the Church who can assist us in understanding how we should respond to such proposals for change in the Church’s practice is St Vincent of Lérins. He was a monk who lived in the fifth century and he offers valuable teaching on how to distinguish the legitimate growth in understanding of the faith as against a false alteration of the authentic Catholic faith.

Confirming that there is development in the faith he makes the important distinction. He says, “Development means that each thing expands to be itself, while alteration means that a thing is changed from one thing into another”. He draws on the analogy of the human body.

The religion of souls should follow the law of development of bodies. Though bodies develop and unfold their component parts with the passing of the years, they always remain what they were. There is a great difference between the flower of childhood and the maturity of age, but those who become old are the very same people who were once young. Though the condition and appearance of one and the same individual may change, it is one and the same nature, one and the same person.

Any new insight or direction in the Church must be within the tradition of the Church and not a divergence from it.

The Church lives within the world and within history. It cannot but be influenced by the currents of the world. But it is not of the world. It is not simply shaped by the fashions of the day. It upholds the eternal truth given to it by the Lord.

We do not model ourselves on the world, but rather seek to transform the world with the truth of the Gospel.

Archbishop Julian Porteous

Sunday, 22 October 2023