In the world, not of the world

To live in the world, but not be OF the world? How do we affect the world, without being affected by it? Now, there's quandary. How does one do that? How does one live in a world where war, violence, irrational prejudices, crime and petty backbiting infuse everything and not be affected by all that negativity? Jesus prayed:

I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. (John 17:15)

In other words, we're supposed to be here in the world, but that evil can still take hold of us if we are not careful and prayerful. I've always liked what Schiller had to say:

Live with your own century, but do not be its creature; render to your contemporaries what they need, not what they praise. (Schiller, Ninth Aesthetic Letter)

In other words, we shouldn't be too quick to cave-in to what the world wants or expects of us.

But just how do we do that? The simple answer is to focus on Jesus, which, of course, is easier said than done.

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. (Colossians 2:8)