Retreat from the homosexual agenda or engage?

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Without question, evangelical Christians face a new reality in post-Obergefell America. And they are wondering how to move forward. They hear some leaders counseling retreat and disengagement from the culture. They hear other leaders say that we need to engage the culture war with the kind of politicking that marked the old Moral Majority of the 1980s.

Neither option really captures what Jesus taught us about our enduring relationship with the world. John 17 records the words of Jesus' prayer just before He was handed over to be crucified. His prayer focused not only on the eleven remaining disciples, but also on all those who would believe in Him through His disciples' testimony.

In short, Jesus was praying for us. Among other things, Jesus prayed that we would be in the world, not of the world, for the sake of the world. 1. Jesus prayed, "I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one .... As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world" (vv. 15,18). This means this engagement from the world is not an option for Christians. He has sent us into the world knowing full well that we will face opposition: "In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart; I have overcome the world" (16:33).

2. But being in the world does not mean being of the world. In John's gospel, "world" is not a generic word for planet earth. It's a technical term denoting humanity in its fallenness and rebellion against God (see also 1 John 2:15-17). So when Jesus sends us into the world, He knows that He's sending us into a realm of active rebellion against His Father's purposes. But His expectation is that our presence in the world will be a "sanctifying" influence. Why? Because our allegiance to Jesus and His Word "sanctifies" us in the midst of the rot (John 17:16-17)' And that is the point.

3. We are in the world yet not of the world for the sake of the world. Jesus says that He sends His sanctified disciples into the world so that "the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me" (v. 23). Ultimately, our sanctification in the world is for a mission: to show the world-in all of its fallen-ness and rebellion that God sent His Son to die for sinners. Yes, we face a new reality in the aftermath of Obergefell. But we know
how to move forward into this new reality because Jesus has already given us our marching orders. He has shown us that opposition from the world is the norm, not the exception. And we know that we will overcome in the end because Jesus did (16:33).

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