From The River of God by Kim Cimio — Part III. Mission, Chapter 7
We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. (1 John 5:19)
How Christians can live in the world without being of it: seeking the welfare of the city like the exiles in Babylon, resisting the world’s ancient temptations, and not mistaking politics for the kingdom of God.
What does Jeremiah 29 teach about living in a hostile culture?
When Babylon conquered Judah, the exiles wept “by the waters of Babylon” (Psalm 137). Koreans call this “the sadness of losing one’s country,” a grief I saw again when Russia invaded Ukraine, where I had lived. Humiliated, the exiles resisted passively: why build houses or raise children to strengthen the enemy empire? But God sent a surprising message through Jeremiah: “Build houses and live in them… Take wives and have sons and daughters… seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jeremiah 29:5–7). The exile would last seventy years, and from these families the Messiah would come. God’s plans were “for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (29:11).
What does shalom mean?
The Hebrew word translated “welfare” in Jeremiah 29 is shalom. We usually translate it as peace, but in many languages peace just means the absence of conflict. The German word for cemetery, Friedhof, literally means “peace courtyard,” because the dead don’t fight. Shalom is much more: the presence of wholeness, flourishing and complete well-being. In Babylon, the Jews may have had peace in the narrow sense, but they did not have shalom; they were not flourishing. God called them to pursue the full life he intended even in exile. And the way to their own shalom was to seek Babylon’s shalom.
What does it mean to be in the world but not of the world?
Many righteous people in Scripture lived in wicked places, like Lot in Sodom and Daniel in Babylon’s court. The Bible teaches us to live in tension, blessing the world by participating in it while staying separate from its values. Some Christians withdraw into a “Christian bubble” and avoid anything secular. Medieval monasticism expressed this, but Martin Luther, a former monk, rejected the idea that monastic life was a higher Christianity and taught that marriage, family and work are equally holy vocations. The opposite error is to dissolve into the world, seeing Christianity only as a contributor to the common good while neglecting worship, evangelism and prayer. Then the church becomes just another social group. Jesus prayed, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15–16).
What are the three temptations of the world in 1 John 2 and Genesis 3?
John warns, “Do not love the world,” because all that is in it, “the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life,” is not from the Father (1 John 2:15–16). The world is not a neutral stage but a realm in rebellion against God. The same three appear in the fall. Eve saw that the fruit was “good for food” (the desires of the flesh), “a delight to the eyes” (the desires of the eyes; we are visual creatures drawn to beauty), and “desired to make one wise” (Genesis 3:6). Everyone wants wisdom, and in countries like Korea the pressure to succeed academically is crushing. These are the ancient temptations that still draw our hearts away from God.
How did Jesus overcome the temptations in the wilderness?
The devil who tempted Eve in the garden tempted Jesus in the wilderness. First, after forty days of fasting: “command this stone to become bread” (Luke 4:3). It seemed harmless, but temptation often looks reasonable, and counsel from the enemy is never good to follow. It also urged Jesus to put his bodily needs first. He answered, “Man shall not live by bread alone.” Second, the devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Imagine owning the Grand Canyon and the Great Wall. Jesus replied, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.” Third, on the pinnacle of the temple: throw yourself down and become instantly famous. Fame is what many young people long for most today, but Jesus refused. Eve fell; Jesus triumphed. These temptations follow us even into a monastery, so we must look to him.
What does the Tower of Babel teach about technology?
God told humanity, and again Noah’s sons, to “fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28; 9:1). But in Shinar people “settled there” and built a tower to anchor their descendants in one place, directly defying God. Their rebellion was empowered by technology: “let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly” (11:3), with bitumen for mortar. Baked bricks were a breakthrough in stone-poor Mesopotamia. This is the first recorded use of technology to disobey God. As Jacques Ellul observed, we now live in a “technological society.” Pornography, once hard to find, is now on every child’s phone. Futurists like Ray Kurzweil speak of a singularity that will conquer death; Yuval Noah Harari foresees Homo deus. These promises echo the serpent: “You will not surely die” and “you will be like God.” Technology is not just progress but a test of faith and obedience.
Why did God call Abraham to leave his country?
After Babel, God’s message changed. He no longer simply said “fill the earth”; humanity had become so corrupt that more people meant more evil. So he called one man out of the rebellious world. God appeared to Abram in Ur, a city in Shinar, the same land as Babel, and said, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house” (Genesis 12:1). The first step in following God was separation from a corrupt world. This theme runs through Scripture: Lot is told to flee Sodom; Paul tells the Corinthians, “go out from their midst, and be separate” (2 Corinthians 6:17); Revelation says, “Come out of her, my people” (18:4). When Israel failed to stay separate, it was exiled to Babylon, which Daniel 1:2 calls “the land of Shinar.” Called out of Shinar, they were sent back there.
What does Babylon symbolize in the Book of Revelation?
In the New Testament, Babylon becomes a symbol of the world. Revelation portrays her as a prostitute who seduces the nations (17–19): “all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality… and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living” (18:3). We see this seduction today in a culture saturated with sexual imagery, where half-naked influencers are idols for men and role models for women. Babylon is also about commerce. We are increasingly defined as consumers rather than citizens or souls. Commerce brings prosperity, but also greed, which the world admires; Gordon Gekko could say “Greed is good.” Scripture says greed is idolatry (Ephesians 5:5). We are called to come out of Babylon spiritually, not geographically, resisting both her seduction and her pressure. “Take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Should Christians try to bring God’s kingdom through politics?
Christians have done noble political work, abolishing slavery and advancing women’s rights. The danger is believing every problem can be solved by Christian legislation. Politics divides; believers disagree on goals and on means, such as how best to help the poor, just as Corinth split over Paul and Apollos (1 Corinthians 1:12). The biggest danger is losing the concept of “the world” itself, imagining that if Christians take power the world will stop being the world. But “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19). Revelation’s “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord” (11:15) comes by divine intervention, not reform. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world” and never sought political influence. Paul knew believers in Caesar’s household but saw the real battle as spiritual (Ephesians 6:12).
What in Scripture is beyond redemption, and what does that mean for how we live?
Scripture names three things destined for destruction. The flesh: “those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh” (Galatians 5:24). The devil, thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10). And the world: “the world is passing away along with its desires” (1 John 2:17). Trying to turn the world into God’s kingdom through politics is as futile as trying to evangelize the devil. We are called to influence the world for good, but the world is still the world, and we don’t belong to it. We are “sojourners and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11) and “citizens of heaven” (Philippians 3:20). That doesn’t mean ignoring the world; it means living in the tension of being present but not belonging. When we remember who we are and whose we are, we can be a light in the darkness without getting lost in it.
Source: Kim Cimio, The River of God (Vision & Logic, 2025), chapter 7, “By the Rivers of Babylon.” Answers are condensed from the book in the author’s words.
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