If you shop at Costco in the Lower Mainland, you will find the parking lots filled with these Brewers Blackbirds. They wander with seeming impunity amongst the cars, carts and shoppers, barely moving out of the way. Every now and then I will see one that wasn’t quick enough to avoid a car and got itself scrunched. I suspect there are more that I don’t see because the staff removes the bodies quickly.
The blackbirds live surrounded by danger, feeding off the scraps that shoppers drop or spill. They seem either oblivious to the danger or as if they’re immune to it.
It reminds me of the world. People live and move in the world, feeding off its scraps, dodging the danger or perhaps never noticing it’s there at all. It never fully satisfies our real needs, but it keeps promising things it can’t deliver, and people stay and wait for the never-coming fulfillment.
We even do it as Christians. We hang out in the world chasing empty promises and scraps. While the world cannot steal our salvation, it can distance us from Christ and mar our witness.
We need to live in the world but not be part of it. One source says this: “The concept of ‘living in the world but not of it’ is a foundational principle for Christians, emphasizing the call to live a life that is distinct from worldly values while engaging with the world around them. This principle is rooted in the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, who instructed believers to maintain their spiritual integrity and witness in a world that often opposes God’s ways.”
We cannot help but be in the world; it surrounds us. We’re also called to be lights in a dark world, and that means leaving our Christian bubbles.
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.Matthew 5:13-16 ESV
We are called to be out in the world but remain apart from its ways. To be in the world but not of the world.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 ESV
Let’s be more aware of what is around us than those blackbirds. Let us always keep our eyes on the prize, loving and sharing wherever we travel.
And in the immortal words of Sgt. Phil Esterhaus in the 90s TV show Hill Street Blues, “Hey, let’s be careful out there.”
Go in the Spirit and in the love of Jesus.
Be blessed
Kevin
SUMMARY
Like the Costco blackbirds, we can spend our lives feeding on the world’s scraps and ignoring the danger around us. Let’s stay alert, keep our eyes on the prize, and let Christ’s light shine wherever we go.
TAKEAWAY
The world keeps promising a fulfillment it can’t deliver, and like those blackbirds, we can settle for its scraps while missing the danger all around us.
The world can’t steal our salvation, but it can distance us from Christ and mar our witness.
We’re called out of our Christian bubbles to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16), living in the world without being conformed to it (Romans 12:2).