1 Chronicles 6:66-70: in context

As the land is divided, the Levites, who received no territory of their own, are given cities scattered among the various tribes. This passage lists cities given to the Kohathite Levites out of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh: Shechem, Gezer, Beth Horon, Aijalon, and others, each with its pasture lands. The Levites, God's ministers, were not gathered together in one place but dispersed throughout the land, placed among all the tribes, present everywhere among the people of Israel.

The dispersal of the Levites among all the tribes was purposeful. Rather than being gathered in one territory, God's ministers were scattered throughout the land, given cities among every tribe, so that they were present everywhere among the people. This meant that wherever an Israelite lived, there were Levites nearby, ministers of God present in every region, teaching the law, leading worship, representing God among all the people. God's servants were not concentrated in one place but salted throughout, a presence and influence for God in every part of the land. This dispersal is a picture of how God places his people in the world. God's people are not meant to be gathered apart, withdrawn from the world into an isolated enclave, but scattered throughout it, placed among all people as a presence and influence for God wherever they are. Like the Levites dispersed among the tribes, believers are placed throughout the world, in every sphere and region, to be a presence for God among the people around them. You are the salt of the earth, Jesus says, and the light of the world; salt and light are meant to be spread through what they touch, not gathered apart from it. God scatters his people throughout the world to be his presence and influence in it. This gives meaning to our placement in the world, wherever God has put us. We may be tempted to think that serving God means withdrawing from the world, gathering with other believers apart from it. But God places his people throughout the world, in their various spheres and regions, to be a presence and influence for him there, as the Levites were placed among all the tribes. Wherever God has placed us, our workplace, our neighborhood, our sphere of life, we are there as his people, to be salt and light, a presence for him among those around us. When the early believers were scattered, Acts says, they went about proclaiming the word; the scattering became the means of spreading the gospel. This calls us to be God's presence and influence wherever he has placed us in the world. The Levites were dispersed among all the tribes, present everywhere for God among the people; and God's people today are likewise placed throughout the world, in every sphere, to be a presence and influence for him. Wherever we are, we are there as God's people, salt and light among those around us; and rather than withdrawing from the world, we are called to be God's presence in it, dispersed throughout it as the Levites were dispersed through the land, a presence and influence for God wherever he has placed us.

Do I think that serving God means withdrawing from the world and gathering apart from it, or can the Levites, dispersed among all the tribes to be God's presence everywhere among the people, together with the call to be salt of the earth and light of the world, help me see that God places his people throughout the world, in every sphere, to be a presence and influence for him, so that wherever he has placed me I am there as his person, salt and light among those around me rather than withdrawn from them?