From the World

They are from the world. Therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them. - 1 John 4:5

Though I am (by spiritual and physical heritage) a Baptist, most of my ministry has been spent in places that would neither be considered Strongholds for that particular denomination. This has often led the "locals" to make the oft-repeated, obvious statement, "You're not from around here are you." Of course, this observation hit its zenith when we moved to Africa back in 2009. We "stuck out" a bit in that culture.

Do you "stick out" where you live?

For John, the "world" was a belief system that was rooted in something other than scriptural truth. He explained that, therefore, the "world" accepts the message of a false prophet, because their message is "worldly." This worldly-acceptance helps us in determining whether or not a person's message is acceptable to God. For example, is the world readily accepting the message that is being presented? If we are following Christ, then we should not be surprised that this world appears deaf to our message. In fact, we should stick out in the crowd, because we're really not from around here!

The opposite is also true. If a person's message is popular, perhaps it is because it aligns more perfectly with the unbiblical philosophy of this world.

All this worldly wisdom was once the unamiable heresy of some wise man. - Henry David Thoreau