Let’s be honest: when Adventists say “worldly,” we’re not describing behavior — we’re drawing a boundary.
“Worldly” is our polite church way of saying,
“You’re not one of us.”
It’s a shortcut for othering, a label that lets us stop listening, stop understanding, and stop treating someone like part of the family.
Once the word drops, the conversation ends.
No curiosity.
No compassion.
Just instant spiritual distance.
But Jesus never used “worldly” to rank people or push them out. He pulled people closer. He made insiders out of outsiders. He built community, not categories.
So maybe it’s time we stop using a word that divides us more than it disciples us.
Let’s retire “worldly” and replace it with something better:
actual listening, actual love, and actual interest in the human being in front of us.
Because if we keep labeling people as “other,” we’re going to end up with a church full of “us” and absolutely no one left to call “family.”
❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
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