One of the more difficult commands in the Christian life is to “not love the world or the things in the world” (1 Jn. 2:15 ESV). Another passage takes this command a step further, illustrating loving the world as spiritual adultery: “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (Jas. 4:4). With these words in mind, the Christian must ask how he or she can avoid falling in love with the world. At times, it seems like a nearly impossible task. In a literal sense, we live in the world, and are surrounded by the world, and it's impossible to be anywhere else other than the world (for now). How can we avoid being worldly?
What is meant by “the world?”
Before we can know how to avoid loving the world, we must understand what is meant in passages like 1 John 2:15 and James 4:4 when the New Testament talks about “the world.” It helps to start by eliminating what we know the Bible cannot be referring to when it discusses “the world” in these passages. We know that “the world” – in this context – is not the planet earth. The earth is good! In the beginning, when God looked at everything that He made, He described it as “very good” (Gen. 1:31). God made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them (Exod. 20:11). God loves His physical creation and so should we.
Also, we know that the Bible is not talking about the people in the world in 1 John 2:15 and James 4:4. Otherwise, God would be a hypocrite! One of the most popular Bible passages tells us that “God so loved the world” that He gave His Only Begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (Jn. 3:16). If God loves the world, why would He tell us to not love the world? It must be that the “world” in John 3:16 and the “world” in 1 John 2:15 do not refer to the same thing. God loves the people in the world, and so should we. Christians are commanded to—without exception—love their neighbors and their enemies (Matt. 22:39; 5:44). Like God, Christians should love sinners and seek to share the good news with them (Rom. 5:6-11)! We know that the “world” we are told not to love is not referring to the people in the world.
So, what does “world” refer to in 1 John 2:15 and James 4:4? The “world” we are commanded not to love is described in 1 Corinthians 2:12 as “the spirit of the world.” We could call it “the system of the world” or “the way the world does things” as influenced by Satan (1 Jn. 5:19). The “world” we are not to love and not be friends with is the attitude, spirit, and way of doing things that contradicts God’s system, God’s order, and God’s Spirit.
Christians should not feel at home in a world that says, “shout your abortion” and “love is love, marry whoever you want.” The world’s outlook contradicts God in the realms of sex (it’s okay before marriage, homosexuality is to be celebrated, etc.), gender (male and female are social constructs), morality (we are just animals, do whatever you want), recreation (if there’s no alcohol it isn’t fun), religion (all roads lead to heaven), and the list goes on. These popular, “worldly” notions and ways of doing things oppose God’s order for the world and should be rejected by Christians lest we become God’s enemies once more (Jas. 4:4). It is tempting to love the way the world does things because it comes with short-term benefits. When we love the world, we get to fit in, we don’t get ostracized, people don’t think we’re weird, we get to fulfill the sinful desires of our flesh and “enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin” (Heb. 11:25). It is tempting to just fall in line and be conformed.
What is not the solution
With a firm grasp of what the “world” we are commanded not to love is, how do we avoid loving the world? First, it should be noted what the solution is not. There is always a temptation to avoid worldliness by becoming a recluse and excusing ourselves to a monastery in the woods to only interact with Christians and only be around godly people. The problem with this is that God has not called us to be monks. We cannot be the light of the world and the salt of the earth if we are never around the world. This would just be another way of hiding our light under a basket and allowing our salt to lose its flavor (Mt. 5:13-16).
We are called to be “in” the world but not “of” the world, and we cannot avoid all contact with those who are not Christians (Jn. 17:14-16; 1 Cor. 5:9-10). It is impossible to not be around worldly people. More than being impossible, it’s not what God wants. God wants to reconcile the world to Himself through Christ (2 Cor 5:19) and we are the only ones who can share the message of Christ with the world (2 Cor. 5:20). Jesus wants us to be around the world, sharing His message with the world, turning the world upside down, but doing so without going along with the way the world does things. Since this is the case, how can we avoid worldliness? We’ll tackle this question directly in next week’s bulletin article.
How Can We Overcome Worldliness? Pt. 1
One of the more difficult commands in the Christian life is to “not love the world or the things in the world” (1 Jn. 2:15 ESV). Another passage takes this command a step further, illustrating loving the world as spiritual adultery: “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (Jas. 4:4). With these words in mind, the Christian must ask how he or she can avoid falling in love with the world. At times, it seems like a nearly impossible task. In a literal sense, we live in the world, and are surrounded by the world, and it's impossible to be anywhere else other than the world (for now). How can we avoid being worldly?
What is meant by “the world?”
Before we can know how to avoid loving the world, we must understand what is meant in passages like 1 John 2:15 and James 4:4 when the New Testament talks about “the world.” It helps to start by eliminating what we know the Bible cannot be referring to when it discusses “the world” in these passages. We know that “the world” – in this context – is not the planet earth. The earth is good! In the beginning, when God looked at everything that He made, He described it as “very good” (Gen. 1:31). God made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them (Exod. 20:11). God loves His physical creation and so should we.
Also, we know that the Bible is not talking about the people in the world in 1 John 2:15 and James 4:4. Otherwise, God would be a hypocrite! One of the most popular Bible passages tells us that “God so loved the world” that He gave His Only Begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (Jn. 3:16). If God loves the world, why would He tell us to not love the world? It must be that the “world” in John 3:16 and the “world” in 1 John 2:15 do not refer to the same thing. God loves the people in the world, and so should we. Christians are commanded to—without exception—love their neighbors and their enemies (Matt. 22:39; 5:44). Like God, Christians should love sinners and seek to share the good news with them (Rom. 5:6-11)! We know that the “world” we are told not to love is not referring to the people in the world.
So, what does “world” refer to in 1 John 2:15 and James 4:4? The “world” we are commanded not to love is described in 1 Corinthians 2:12 as “the spirit of the world.” We could call it “the system of the world” or “the way the world does things” as influenced by Satan (1 Jn. 5:19). The “world” we are not to love and not be friends with is the attitude, spirit, and way of doing things that contradicts God’s system, God’s order, and God’s Spirit.
Christians should not feel at home in a world that says, “shout your abortion” and “love is love, marry whoever you want.” The world’s outlook contradicts God in the realms of sex (it’s okay before marriage, homosexuality is to be celebrated, etc.), gender (male and female are social constructs), morality (we are just animals, do whatever you want), recreation (if there’s no alcohol it isn’t fun), religion (all roads lead to heaven), and the list goes on. These popular, “worldly” notions and ways of doing things oppose God’s order for the world and should be rejected by Christians lest we become God’s enemies once more (Jas. 4:4). It is tempting to love the way the world does things because it comes with short-term benefits. When we love the world, we get to fit in, we don’t get ostracized, people don’t think we’re weird, we get to fulfill the sinful desires of our flesh and “enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin” (Heb. 11:25). It is tempting to just fall in line and be conformed.
What is not the solution
With a firm grasp of what the “world” we are commanded not to love is, how do we avoid loving the world? First, it should be noted what the solution is not. There is always a temptation to avoid worldliness by becoming a recluse and excusing ourselves to a monastery in the woods to only interact with Christians and only be around godly people. The problem with this is that God has not called us to be monks. We cannot be the light of the world and the salt of the earth if we are never around the world. This would just be another way of hiding our light under a basket and allowing our salt to lose its flavor (Mt. 5:13-16).
We are called to be “in” the world but not “of” the world, and we cannot avoid all contact with those who are not Christians (Jn. 17:14-16; 1 Cor. 5:9-10). It is impossible to not be around worldly people. More than being impossible, it’s not what God wants. God wants to reconcile the world to Himself through Christ (2 Cor 5:19) and we are the only ones who can share the message of Christ with the world (2 Cor. 5:20). Jesus wants us to be around the world, sharing His message with the world, turning the world upside down, but doing so without going along with the way the world does things. Since this is the case, how can we avoid worldliness? We’ll tackle this question directly in next week’s bulletin article.