More easily said than done as any believer in Messiah has found. Even where you are not of the world in one area I’m sure there is an area where you’re entrenched, whether you realize it or not. I believe the extent to which someone is entrenched speaks to why Jesus told more people they were not cut out for the Kingdom than he told to come and follow him.
This last year, especially, has been the culmination of years of God extracting me from the world’s system and I’m realizing why I had to go through so many things that I didn’t understand at the time.
This last week I wrestled with a verse I’ve gone to several times and the lightbulb that went off was practically blinded. Matthew 22:21 “They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.”
I’ve always been told this means, “Pay your taxes and pay your tithe.” But when I studied this out I don’t believe that is the point. In context the Pharisees who came to test him ask if Torah permits paying taxes. How often does Jesus actually answer the question he’s being asked? Not often at all, I’m finding. In fact he “perceived their wickedness” and asked why they were tempting Him! He made clear what I’m finding in my own life which is that too often we are asking the WRONG questions!
So looking closer at this answer I finally asked, “What belongs to the Lord that we’re supposed to give to him?” Going to the context for this also has some great answers. The telling of the next question asked him by the Sadduccees is all about the Kingdom. In answer to the question about which of the 7 brothers the woman would be married to in the Kingdom, Jesus answered that God makes it clear, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
Then *lightbulb* I realizes . . . WE are that which belongs to God! WE are what we are to render unto him! Our lives! Lives of living and not dead people. Lives that are not concerned with issues like money and taxes and what this world says is important.
I’m not at all saying not to tithe since that is instructed in Torah. And I’m not saying not to pay taxes because if you don’t I can’t be there to defend you when you’re prosecuted 
What I’m saying is this:
There are two kingdoms–that of the world and that of God. The world is for the dead, the Kingdom of God is for the living. Leave to the world that which is the worlds, give yourself to God!
Which brings me back to the idea of living in the world but not being of it.
I have realized that the pain and anxiety I’ve felt over the years is often rooted in trying to be a righteous and godly person in a system that is not righteous or godly and does not play by God’s rules. It is lawless (there are rules, but they aren’t God’s). And the pain and anxiety I’ve experienced as God has worked to extract me from this world’s system are evidence of where I’m more “of it” than I realized!
If you are reading newspapers and feeling fear, it’s evidence you are more of the world than you may have realized. If you are thinking about losing your job or not having the retirement you’ve invested in then you are more of the world than you may have thought. If you are looking at the headlines and trying to figure out how to fix the world’s problems then you’re trying to fix the world’s system and we are told in Scripture that it is doomed.
Focus on God and His Kingdom, learn what it means to live in His Kingdom, learn what to do in His Kingdom, and practice what it will be like in His Kingdom–the Kingdom of the living and not the dead–and then you be in the world without getting caught up in being of it.
If we could ever be so busy being in His Kingdom that we didn’t worry about the details of the world’s kingdom . . . WOW! Can you imagine that?
Very insightful. Definitely a different take on that passage of scripture than I’ve ever heard. Makes a lot of sense. I’ll have to ponder it a bit more and try to imagine more clearly how I can live it out. I always tend to have trouble bringing things from the intellectual level to the practical level. Thanks for this post.
That is really eye-opening. I think I’ve focused more on the Caesar’s part of the verse than the God’s part of the verse.
Very well put. Don’t you love it when you come back and read something and it just hits you right where and when you need it. I was looking into a passage in Hosea this morning and thought I would read the introduction. It was the most perfect thing I needed to hear today to “solve” these worries I’ve been feeling.
You know, this really mirrors the work God has been doing in my own heart and I struggle with fear over the economy and what it could mean specifically for my family, and my fear over politics. What is has come down to for me, is the concept that God’s idea of an abundant life is very different from my (or the world’s) view, and that if I know and accept that the only true source of contentment is being in God’s will, it means intentionally focusing my eyes on God instead of present circumstances. But MAN can that be hard!
Very soul stirring! I love that we are what we are to give to God. So very very true and I’d never thought to put that passage in that context!
Beautiful post! I enjoy your way of looking at Scripture so much. Thank you for sharing!