Intergrated into the World?

We're not meant to be like the world, to become a part of it in mind, thought and action, to accept everything of the world without questioning it. No, we are to be fundamentally different from it in all ways.

One (very un-)Christian approach is to isolate ourselves from the world and keep hammering on about the world's deception, another approach is to simply blend in with society and just keep up with the mainstream. If society starts to go in one direction, just follow along. That's just to be taken in with deception.

We don't need to keep preaching how wrong the world is, but neither do we need to swallow everything hook, line and sinker. Neither are right - we are to preach and live the truth, even if everything is society is in opposition to it.

Hello? Isn't God eternal? The world and its wisdom may be wishy-washy, but we're to hold fast to what is eternal and unchanging, not to fads.

We sometimes take the world's system for granted, and just believe and live the way others do rather than take a discerning, cautious and enlightened approach to life - everything from lifestyle, to education, to work, to health, to finances, etc.

I mean, it's a normal thing to take loans in the world, but do we Christians realize that the Bible warns us that is unwise? It's a normal thing to get divorced, get abortions, and engage in sexual immorality in the world, and those activities are just as much a part of the mainstream church as they are a part of the world. 

We are to be lights in darkness. We will stand out. We will be different. We don't need to be ostentatious about, or go around slapping people in the face with the Bible, but we aren't supposed to just become darkness because we are surrounded by it.

We don't need to go around being the opposite of the world. Simply by being who we are as followers of Jesus - pure, meek, humble, lowly peacemakers, we will be the light. Simply by showing love, being kind, being who we essentially are as the saints of God, we will be the light. We don't need to be false, superficial or legalistic. Nor are we supposed to blend in with the world - if so, what would the point be of being a disciple of Jesus?