I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.
My prayer is not that you would 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.
Sanctify them by the truth; Your Word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
(John 17:13-19)
Jen Hatmaker referred to this verse during Media Week in The 7 Experiment. Our group fasted together from (most) all media for a whole week. We learned some good lessons. (And, yes, I realize how ironic it is that I’m typing about this on media…)
Here are some of the things she had to say:
“I grew up in a Christian culture that valued a sequestered worldview. ‘In the world, not of the world’ was the mantra that kept me separated from ‘sinners,’ isolated from complicated questions…Doubts made me uncomfortable. Messy issues boggled my theology. A heavy emphasis on morality reduced my concept of discipleship into simple lists; do this and be esteemed, do that and be condemned.
I artfully skipped over the part where Jesus said, ‘I am not praying that You take them out of the world…As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.’
I avoided this concept, preferring a protectionist viewpoint, meaning pull out, detach, ignore, disengage, disconnect, wall it off. My answer was to live in a Christian bunker where none of it could reach me and mine. Problem solved.
But Jesus chose a different way to protect us: truth. Evidently, He deemed that enough to anchor us, severance was apparently unnecessary. Armed with truth, we can live in this world with great purpose, extreme effectiveness, boundless hope. Truth is the linchpin, protecting both our holiness and usefulness…
But as Jesus insisted on sending us into this world, perhaps there is a strategy superior to pretending none of it exists. Maybe remaining culturally savvy, sharp, and discerning, shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves is an advantage…
Truth is why I pulled up programming aimed at children wrought with high school sex, lies, betrayals, and rebellion and talked my two middle school kids through it. We discussed how characters were reduced and stereotyped, consequences were trivialized, and the views became normative and socializing.
Truth is the reason we enjoy certain shows and movies together, no problem.
Truth protects our identities from the popular media qualifiers of power, position, possessions, and beauty.
Truth turns us into wise teachers, not simply avoiders.
Truth helps us embrace the good elements of media and resist the bad, for it contains both…”
In a way I can’t explain, our church seems to find this difficult balance with seemingly minimal effort. Our pastor takes a calm, wise, relaxed stance on things like TV, movies, even Santa Claus.
Most people in our church are up to date on the news – locally and around the world. Almost everyone I know has hearts for people outside of themselves and their own families – even as they invest intentionally in their own families. (There are moms in our church I want to be like when I grow up.)
I’m just so grateful to be part of a community that finds more important things to focus on than avoiding the bad.
The next portion was written just for me I believe. Smile.
Proverbs 29:20 “Do you see a man who speaks in haste? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”
“My name is Jen Hatmaker and I am a hothead. Information sears me quickly and dramatically…but always recedes after walking away and getting my head on straight. My knee-jerk response can almost never be trusted. I wait at least a day to respond [on social media] to harsh criticism, post a controversial blog, or pile on a volatile issue online. Not because I am so wise, but because I’ve made an idiot out of myself one too many times, and I’m sick of saying I’m sorry.
Social media is unprecedented, because truly, once that picture goes up, it’s on there forever. Once you comment, it’s recorded for infinity. After you thrust your opinions onto the World Wide Web, that intellectual property is no longer yours. Relationships can be destroyed. Trust can be violated. Feelings can be wrecked. Reputations can be ruined. It’s never been so easy to injure one another and ourselves…
We are going to make social media safer or poisonous…”
So it seems this is the time in which we are to live.
Jesus, give us wisdom. We so desperately need it.