“This world is not my home, I’m just a-passin’ through, my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.” I’ve sung these words my entire life. There is certainly biblical truth to the idea that Christians should not feel at home in the world. But I’m afraid we have greatly misunderstood what Scripture means in this regard. What should we mean when we say the world is not our home?

The word “world” does not always mean the same thing every time it appears i...