Is it sinful to live in the world, in cities? Should we flee from the world to forests and mountains? #

Christians are called people “not of this world,” not because they live outside the world, but because they do not submit to the prince of this world, that is, the devil. Instead, they submit to Christ, who, on the contrary, sends them into the world. Why? To proclaim the message of Christ:

“As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world… that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.”
(John 17:18, 21)

Christians are the salt of the earth. Just as salt prevents meat from spoiling, so Christians, by living in the world, prevent it from becoming utterly corrupt and perishing. The task of Christians is not to flee from the world but to serve God within it so that the world may come to believe, as Christ said.

Why, then, did Christians at times flee from the world? They fled because they were persecuted, not because they sought to escape voluntarily:

“But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another.”
(Matthew 10:23)

Why, then, does the Apostle John write:

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
(1 John 2:15)

And why does the Apostle James say:

“Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”
(James 4:4)

The Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria explains that “the world” refers to sinful people who lack the love of the Father within them. Whoever loves God and strives for divine things is called a friend of God. This does not mean fleeing physically from the world but rather distancing oneself from sin and everything that leads to sin.

The Apostle Paul clarifies:

“I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world… for then must ye needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator…”
(1 Corinthians 5:9–11)

It is not interaction with the world that must be avoided but rather keeping oneself from sin.

Why, then, are monasteries needed? Monasticism is not a path for everyone. Monastics undergo training in Christian virtues, obedience, and humility. After completing this training and reaching a certain level of spiritual perfection, they are still called to serve God and others within the world, praying for the world and helping people in their new capacity.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
(John 3:16)

— Priest Evgeny Gureev