I have recently been using the expression "people not of our faith" and it shocks me to be corrected everytime by, "you mean worldly". I dont really like the word worldly because i feel it is a degrading word to describe people we love so much that we try to find them in the ministry. Below are a couple of quotes from recent watchtowers that really give us the esscence of the word worldly as far as the watchtower is concerned.
Janusz, who lives in Eastern Europe, became engrossed in his gardening business. He recalls: “ Worldly people admired me because I was full of initiative and was able to complete each assigned task. But my spirituality suffered, and I stopped sharing in the field ministry. Soon I stopped attending meetings. I became so proud that I dismissed the counsel from the elders and drew away from the congregation.” (What i get from this is, worldly people want nothing more than to make us prideful and stop attending meetings).
The sacrifices that the Israelites made to Jehovah were considered to be holy. (Lev. 6:25; 7:1) The Hebrew term translated “holiness” conveys the idea of separateness, exclusiveness, or sanctification to God. In order for our sacrifices to be acceptable to Jehovah, they must be separate from and uncontaminated by worldly influences. We cannot be loving any of the things that Jehovah hates. (Read1 John 2:15-17.) Clearly, this means that we have to avoid any associations or involvements that would defile us from God’s point of view. (What i get from this is, we as Jw's are an exclusive group and cannot associate with those Jehovah hates).
So when using this word it does not simply mean not a Jw, it is a hateful and hurtful word.
