John 17:11-19
They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.
Consecrate them in the truth; your word is truth.
If we trace the use of the word ‘world’ through the New Testament we find that we are being asked to hold several concepts at once. In John’s Gospel we hear that
Jesus and his followers, ‘do not belong’ to the world but are sent into it. And then at the same time we hear that God ‘so loved the world’ that he sent his Son to redeem it.
The Christian tradition of monasticism presents a similar picture with its classic teaching of ‘fleeing the world’ (fuga mundi) on the one hand and its significant contribution to learning, agriculture and even champagne production, on the other. I think it’s fair to say that monastics have always been steering a middle course. In his Rule, St Benedict urges his monks: ‘Your way of acting should be different from the world’s way: the love of Christ must come before all else.’ I find this helpful because it gives a focus and sets the counter cultural choice of monastic life in the context of love.
How can you put the love of Christ before all else today?