SABBATH THOUGHT 2025-06-14—OUT OF THIS WORLD, OUT OF THEIR MINDS

May God bless you on His Sabbath day!

One of the worst doctrines of WCG was the separation and isolation of its members from family, friends, and the world. The organization preached a message that everyone must come OUT of the world—literally. They did not want members to associate with anyone who was not part of their church. This was done for the subjection and control of its members and it was accomplished by quoting the Scripture “… you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (John 15:19). On the face of it, there is certainly a sense of separation and isolation particularly with the threat that members would be hated. However, it was not only taken out of context, but the meaning was misconstrued. Here is the full text of what Jesus said:

JOHN 15:18-19 “If the world hates you [the 12 disciples], you know that it hated Me [Jesus Christ] before it hated you. 19 “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

The last phrase, “I chose you out of the world,” can mean two different things. It can be understood as “I chose you [to come] out of the world” or “I chose you [from among] the world.” Both the Greek and English can be interpreted either way. So, which one is correct?

The fact that the world hates them means that they were still present in the world. Obviously, the world cannot hate those it does not know about; therefore, those who are “not of the world” are clearly NOT separated or isolated from it. Therefore, the phrase “not of the world” can only mean NOT of the same mind.

Aside from it being biblically false, the Doctrine of Separation and Isolation also had awful consequences. It literally quenched the commission from Jesus Christ to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom. Back then, not even the elders were allowed to go about preaching the Gospel outside of the organization—it was the sole responsibility of one man. While he did reach many, he also made the ridiculous claim that preaching to the leader of a nation was the same as preaching to every citizen of that nation. That was absurd and certainly not biblical. The result was that the Gospel was literally and intentionally withheld from the world:

ROMANS 10:12-15 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” 14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

The impact of the Doctrine of Separation and Isolation in numbers of lost potential Firstfruits cannot be fully realized. Understanding that “not of the world” means NOT of the same mind eliminates the confusion of what Jesus said prior to His sacrifice:

JOHN 17:6, 11, 14-19 “I [Jesus Christ] have manifested Your [God’s] name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. … 11 “Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. … 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 [remove] 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. 18 “As You sent [lit. send out on a mission] Me into the world, I also have sent [lit. send out on a mission] them into the world. 19 “And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.”

Jesus gave God’s Word to the apostles and God sanctified them with His Word of Truth. This is what made them “not of the world,” meaning that their minds were filled with Truth, not the lies and deceit of the world. But why were they set apart? So that they could PREACH the Gospel to the world. They could not do that if they were separated or isolated from the world. Jesus literally sent them on a mission (the meaning of the Greek) which is why He did not want God to “take them out of the world.” Paul also clarifies this in his epistle to the Corinthians:

1 CORINTHIANS 5:9-10 I [Paul] wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.

Being “of the world” means having a MIND capable of speaking and understanding worldly things, as John explained:

1 JOHN 4:4-6 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error [delusion].

The world and the ekklesia have completely separate and distinct MINDS. The world cannot understand the things of God while the ekklesia have mind of Christ[1] to know God’s Word of Truth that also gives discernment of the deceit and delusion that is the basis of thinking throughout the world.

Perhaps the worst consequence of the Doctrine of Separation and Isolation was that it made the ekklesia FEARFUL. Many of the ekklesia in this day and age are afraid to speak about God, Jesus Christ, or the Gospel of the Kingdom. They are afraid to tell an employer about keeping the Sabbaths and holydays; they are afraid to tell family they are keeping the Feast of Tabernacles (instead, they are going on ‘vacation’ or to a ‘church conference’); they are afraid when a neighbor tells them of a trial to ask if they would like prayers on their behalf; they are afraid to have ‘unconverted’ friends; they are afraid to tell the waiter why they do not eat pork or shellfish; they are afraid to tell the clerk at the store, “Have a blessed day!” or “May God bless you!”; they are afraid to tell the repairman not to come on the Sabbath (instead, no one is ‘available’ on Saturday). I know these to be true because these are all things that I and other brethren said and did.

The Doctrine of Separation and Isolation has also caused many to miss out on countless opportunities to be what we are all meant to be:

MATTHEW 5:13-16 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 “Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 “Let your light so shine before men [of the world], that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Some of those missed opportunities are Good Works, which are required for salvation[2]:

1 PETER 2:12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles [of the world], that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Have you noticed that the world most enjoys escaping from itself? They go on vacations to escape their lives; they get drunk to escape their problems; they have parties to escape their boredom; they watch sports to escape from the ordinary; they watch movies to escape their own thoughts. In many regards, they are unknowingly searching for something beyond this world and this life. For this reason, some of them would “gladly receive [the] Word” (Acts 2:41) if they heard it. But all they hear is silence from a frightened ekklesia. The Gospel has been withheld from them because of the fear instilled in those who HAVE received it—you and me.

Something that is upsetting to contemplate is that God CANNOT WORK in those who hide away from the world—those who hide their light “under a basket.” Light in a dark place is only useful if it is exposed. The “light of the Gospel” (2 Cor. 4:4) is given to the ekklesia so that the world may glorify God for His works in us:

PHILIPPIANS 2:13, 15 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. … 15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

The fear that was instilled through the Doctrine of Separation and Isolation was a false and heretical biblical doctrine. If the woman who anointed the feet of Jesus prior to His sacrifice had that same fear, imagine the horror she would experience when she heard that the WHOLE WORLD would know about her:

MATTHEW 26:12-13 “For in pouring this fragrant oil on My [Jesus Christ’] body, she did it for My burial. 13 “Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial [record] to her.”

Above all, fear is an enemy of salvation:

REVELATION 21:8 “But the cowardly [fearful] … shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Fear of ‘exposing’ one’s faith and God’s Word of Truth for most involve trivial and petty things such as losing a job, family, or friends; of being criticized or labeled; etc. It is ironic because those who preach a Doctrine of Separation and Isolation also malign Protestants who willingly and alone proclaim the name of Jesus to complete strangers on the street or in front of a pro-Muslim mob or to a gang with machetes threatening them to convert to Islam.

It is far past time to put away any fear of facing the world. God can and will unleash the POWER within all who have God’s Word of Truth in them:

2 TIMOTHY 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

That power of the Spirit from God is for the telling of a story of Truth and Light and Life by those who HAVE the His Word of Truth:

JOHN 3:16, 21 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. … 21 “But he who [is practicing] the Truth comes to the Light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

May God’s grace and peace be upon you!

Steven Greene

https://sabbathreflections.org

sabbathreflections@gmail.com