“What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.
St Paul
I would like you to be free from concern…”
These are some of the most misunderstood words in the New Testament because they are often taken to be ‘anti’ everything in the world. The key to understanding what the text is about is in the line at the end: ‘I would like you to be free from concern’.
In this day and age, there is a record number of things to give us cause for concern. We should all be aware by now that social media specifically and global connectivity in general have brought all of the world’s most frightening and pressing problems right into our homes. There is perhaps some wisdom in Smith Wigglesworth’s approach, where he would refuse to take visitors into his house unless they left the newspaper outside. (For most of us this isn’t feasible, although we might all do well to cut down our consumption of toxic media…)
What about this passage of scripture? We should understand that it does not advocate ‘disengagement’, the passive state of giving up on any meaningful action. It does, however, advocate ‘dis-attachment’.
When we are ‘engaged’, our energies and creativity can be meaningfully deployed to effect positive changes in the world around us. But when we are ‘attached’ we are bound by the belief that we are in any way ‘in control’, and often create a mess by trying to engineer outcomes that don’t work out the way we expect. The fear of negative outcomes pulls us out of ‘present reality’ into an uncertain future that ironically doesn’t even exist yet! Disengagement leads to apathy and passivity. Dis-attachment leads to the freedom to rise above earthly concerns, and thus to see with eyes unclouded by future-fears how, when, and where to effectively ‘engage’.
‘I would like you to be free from concern’ – or in another translation, ‘I don’t want you to be worried or concerned about anything’. This is God’s will for all of us.
Stay ‘engaged’, become ‘dis-attached’.
