In the World, NOT Of It
- Sophia Bauer
- Apr 26, 2024
- 3 min read
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I was blessed with the opportunity to study abroad in Florence during the summer of 2016. I loved every second of it, and if it weren't for the fact that I love being able to see family I would've seriously considered making Europe my new home. One thing I couldn't get over while I was there was how deeply integrated into the secular world Christianity was, and still is to this day. Yes I know that back when they were built, churches were part of any citizen's life throughout Europe in some shape or form. But the churches weren't torn down or demolished—not even fully abandoned—when religion began to unfortunately see a shift toward a secular mindset. They remained standing and continued serving their communities.
All while folks are going about their normal, everyday lives.
I would frequently tag along with the art history class when there was an opening as a way of getting free tours to towns I wanted to visit anyway. I wasn't expecting my semester of ceramics and drawing seminars to seem more like a mini pilgrimage! Everywhere we went there was Christianity influencing something somewhere, somehow, in some way. I saw the Creator at work, from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican to the humble country chapels we routinely visited. Did I mention I even got to see the head of St. Catherine of Siena? It was awesome!
One of the things that still blows my mind is that I started attending daily Mass at the Cathedral of Santa Maria de Fiore each morning before class (shout out to the tiny, retired Italian priest who would make sure to greet me after Mass each morning). It was literally right smack dab in the center of downtown Florence and is one of the most iconic structures in Florence! Thousands of people walked past its holy doors daily—some stopping in to pray, some touring the Brunelleschi Dome, and some simply passing by on their way to work or market. Regardless, it was there. GOD was there, right in the midst of their every day life.
It's funny how I'm reminded of what Christ desired for His disciples:
"My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified." John 17:15-19
Yes, there is evil in the world that is so easily sewing division and death. Yes, there are horrors beyond our imagination that God didn't originally intend for His children. But this isn't a call to abandon the world and things in it, or to give in to the chaos. Instead, God desires us to shed light in the darkness and live among ALL of His creation. He desires us to be in the mess of our neighbor's lives, whether they share the same faith as us or not. He desires the beauty of Truth to be known and experienced through our witness at school, in the workplace, and at our social outings.
People should know that we are Christians, not just by our words but also by our actions and outpouring of love. We were made to live among our fellow brothers and sisters who do not yet know Christ, not run from them. We were made to be in the middle of it all, not to shun the world but to help reconcile it in the trenches. It's time to roll up our sleeves and get to work.
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