Whenever I travel, I am keenly aware that I am away from my home.  My awareness is possible because of the change in culture I witnessed.  There is a certain flow, a certain way, even a particular language that occurs in the culture of my home area.

I remember visiting Detroit many years ago and going to a place to order some food. When it was my turn, I communicated as clearly as I knew how what I desired for a meal. The girl behind the counter asked me to repeat my order, and I did.  She then asked to wait a moment and left the counter.  She returned with a young man.  She then asked me to repeat once more what I wished to order.  I responded by telling her I had already given her my order twice, so why would she ask me again?  She said, I just wanted him to hear it.  Then they asked me where I was from, and I told them.  It appeared my accent was quite odd to them.  We all used the English language, but in Detroit, my use of it had a particular accent based on where I am from that was markedly different from the one they had in Detroit.

In other words, whenever I am away from my actual home, I stand out; it is not difficult for others to recognize I am not from around their parts.  I was raised in east Tennessee and, therefore, immersed in the culture and language of it.  It is obvious to those who are not from that area.

Jesus prayed a very important prayer right before He went to the Garden of Gethsemane and then on to the cross.  We find it in John 17

John 17:14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

Believers are not of this world. In fact, they are created in Christ to be so different from this world and its culture that they stand out—just as I stand out whenever I travel.  If our making it to heaven was the only reason Jesus gave His life, then what He prays in verse 15 was an exercise in futility and uselessness.  He didn’t ask that we be taken out of this world as soon as we believe in Him, but He did ask that we be kept from the evil one.  Why?  He knows that the more we stand out, the more identifiable we become and that the enemy will desire to target us as a result.

We are not of this world, just as Jesus was not of this world.  When I travel, I usually do so with a purpose in mind.  Once that purpose is accomplished I am ready to return home.  That is how it was with Jesus.  That is how it is to be with His followers.  That is why Jesus prayed that we would be sanctified by the truth.  Not just any truth.  Jesus said to the Father, Your word is truth.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

The truth we are sanctified by is Jesus.  Jesus is the truth.  It is His life given to us that sets us apart from all else in this world, and the more we are transformed into His image from beholding Him, the less like this world we become.  He rearranges all the things that are important to us in this life by giving us His desires and instilling in us what it is He values most.  It is true that I look forward to when I get home, but in the meantime, I more purposefully want others to see Jesus in how I live my life.  A man surrendered to the purpose he’s been given by His Father and submitted to the Holy Spirit just as Jesus was.  I know this will mark me as being different in this world, and as such, there will be those who aren’t pleased with me for it.  But I would much rather be in unity with God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) than to be well-liked and in unity with this world.  I am not of this world.