Love Not the World

1 John 2:15-17  Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

James 4:4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

One could ask, if God made the world and all things in it, why does Scripture frequently and strongly tell us not to love it, and not to pursue friendship with it? The answer to this question is not to be looked for in the creation itself, but in the nature of man’s relationship with it—in why he loves it, what he seeks from it, and how he uses it in his fallen condition. 

The world was not originally a danger to man. It was not created by God to be an unsafe environment for his heart. Creation came forth from God as an expression of His love, His provision and His glory; and man, living in the light, wisdom, and innocence of God, could relate to the world in a way that was not only safe, but that also glorified his Creator. In their innocence, Adam and Eve could see the hand and purpose of God in everything that was made, and could receive everything in creation as a gift of God, as an expression of love, as an opportunity for thanksgiving and worship. They did not take created things into the hands of self-love or self-interest. They didn’t use the world with selfish motives. There were no private purposes or personal ambitions associated with creation when God reigned in the heart of man. The world was made to be like a big stage where God loved man through all that was made, and where man walked with God in it, thanking and glorifying Him in all that he did. 

But all of that suddenly changed when man turned from God, died to the life of God, and began to seek life, purpose, goodness, pleasure, power, and everything else in the creation, and not in the Creator. This, in a few words, is the nature and reality of man’s fall. Man did not just make a mistake, or commit a single act of disobedience. He turned from God—the perfect and unfailing source of all that was good—and began to seek good from another source. Jeremiah, describing this same tendency in Israel many years later, said: “Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid; be very desolate,” says the LORD. “For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

In the beginning, God was the source of man’s spiritual life, the source of his light, the constant supply of his wisdom, understanding, righteousness, peace, joy, and all things that were good. Man’s fall was his turning from this supply, his cutting himself off from it, and thereby dying to the life or nature that came from it. And this left him with the natural consequences of what he had chosen. Instead of an eternal soul, filled with the life of God, manifesting righteousness and glory through an outward body, he became a dark and lifeless soul, enslaved to the lusts and passions of the outward body. The fall left man something like a half-demon/half-animal. His soul, lacking the life of God, bore the very same nature as the Father of lies (for which reason Jesus called men sons of the devil). And his body, no longer under the government of a heavenly soul, became the leader of his will, the same as any earthly animal. His god became his appetite, his glory became his shame, and like the beasts of the field, he set his mind on earthly things.

This, of course, changed everything for man. It changed his relationship with God, it changed the nature of his life, the nature that governed his thoughts, desires, and actions. It changed how he saw everything, what he felt, what he wanted, and what he feared. From a vessel overflowing with the gifts and goodness of God, he became a selfish reacher after passing shadows. And in that condition, regardless of what he does, or however he runs to distract himself with outward things, he can never entirely escape nagging sensations of emptiness, vanity, and corruption. He can’t soothe the painful feeling that his life had lost its substance and its meaning. Sensations of lack, longing, hunger, disappointment, emptiness, dissatisfaction, and the like, are the constant companions of the unregenerate inward man, even when man does all that he can to bury these sensations under the pleasures and distractions of the outward man.

In the beginning, the “Father of lights” shared Himself with man, and poured forth a constraint stream of good and perfect gifts. Man was created to be the recipient of these gifts, and to glorify God in all that he did in the world. But now, the desires of the flesh that reign in man, along with the desires of the eyes and the pride of life—these are not from the Father of lights, but rather have their origin below. This is what John is telling us in his letter. “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.” The desires that we feel longing after the world and its things, and all the selfish motivations behind them, are not safe, are not clean, do not come from God, but come from the absence of God that man feels in his fallen heart. 

And this is the reason why the Scriptures warn us so strongly and frequently about our relationship with the world. This is why Jesus told us we are not of the world, and why Paul says we must be crucified to the world, and why John says our faith must overcome the world. It is not because of any inherent defect in creation. It is because of a defect, or a disorder that has gotten into the heart of man. Man has lost the God of goodness, and he now creates and worships his own ideas of goodness in the things around him. His friendship with the world, as James says, truly is enmity towards God. In his fallen condition, it cannot be otherwise, for the same reason that he cannot walk east and west at the same time. He literally cannot serve two masters. He either loves the one and hates the other, or else he is loyal to one and despises the other. (Mat. 6:24) Man feels himself pulled in two directions, but he has only one heart. By giving it to the world (which is the same as keeping it for himself) he takes it from God. And by giving it back to God, he takes his heart from the world. 

And this is precisely why the first and greatest commandment is to give back to God what we have taken from Him. Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is to turn to God again, and to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Christ taught plainly, that to be His disciple, our heart must give up all that it has in this world. And the reason for this is both simple and necessary. It is because unless we stop walking east, we cannot go west. All that moves and seeks and wills within us, all of our attention and affection, must be taken from the world and fixed upon the Captain of our salvation, if we are going to follow Him out of one world and into another.

See here the reason for the following Scriptures:

Colossians 3:1 “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.”

Hebrews 12:1-2 “…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

2 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.

The REASON we must set our minds on things above, look unto Jesus and things that are unseen, is because we have fallen into a nature and into a relationship with the world that was never the intention of God, and now we must leave it. We must voluntarily leave it inwardly, before we are forced to leave it outwardly by death. Christ has come into it in order to call us out of it, and like Lot’s wife, he warns us not to look back. And again, the REASON for this is not an arbitrary command of God, or a mere test of obedience. It is because, in his fallen condition, man loves the world for all the wrong reasons. He does not love God in it, or God’s glory, or truth, or purpose. No, he loves self in it, and by setting his mind on things below, and reaching for them, he lives to himself, and for himself, seeking goodness and pleasure and purpose apart from his Creator. 

This is the reason behind all that Scripture has to say about being strangers and pilgrims in the world, about not being of the world, about becoming dead to the world, or crucified to the world. Again, it is not because of any created defect in the world, but because of a great change that has taken place in the nature and condition of man, and his relationship with the world. Of course there are good things in the world that God has made and provided for man. I don’t question it. But there are no truly good relationships with any of these things until our treasure and our heart are taken from the earth and given back entirely to God.

But you don’t need my words, or even the words of Scripture, to convince you of these things. You have a Witness much nearer than words that has (at least at some times) made you feel the truth of these things, though you perhaps haven’t given it the attention it deserves. If you are a Christian, or have had any real experience of the Spirit of God, there is something in you that has at times made you feel (beyond what words can do, and beyond any doubt) that the true knowledge of God is incompatible with a worldly spirit, and that heavenly desires pull in a different direction than earthly desires and ambitions.

Christians feel these convictions, but they strive against the Witness of God in their hearts. (I did this for years, not wanting to listen to the disquieting and annoying sting in my conscience, nor wanting to believe that they had a divine origin.) Christians read Scriptures that insist upon coming out from the world, and yet somehow wiggle themselves into a belief that they are not guilty of loving the world in a wrong or dangerous way. In attempts to get over their inward convictions, they say there is nothing inherently evil in the choices they are making, or the things they are pursuing, the way they spend their time. There is no harm done. “And besides,” they say, “These are all just little things that don’t have anything to do with spiritual life or growth. And it would be legalism, works religion, or old covenant Christianity to insist upon paying attention to them.” 

But what so many people fail to see is that the sum total of all of these little things is their LIFE, and that all of their heart, their mind, and their strength is divided up and shared between them. Each one of these things has a little bit of their heart, a little bit of their attention, their time, their energy, their thoughts, desires and dreams, all day, every day. Each one gives them a certain amount of pleasure, purpose, identity, meaning, comfort, or escape. But if we would just be honest with ourselves, and pay attention to our own hearts, we could easily see—on a day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment basis—that THESE are really the things that we are loving with our heart, our mind, and our strength.  

It is not legalism, works religion, or old covenant Christianity to guard your heart, and to pay attention to what is filling your thoughts and your time. I speak nothing here of trying to please God with works of the flesh, or with ceremonies of the law. I point your attention only to what is happening in your own heart, and only for this one reason: because there is a holy God who wants to dwell there. And it is silly to say that these so-called little things are not important to the Lord, when, from the creation of man, there has never been anything MORE important to God than what man gives his heart and mind to, what he loves and chooses and seeks. Literally thousands of verses of Scripture could be appealed to as the proof of this. Every warning, every lamentation, every correction, judgment, and admonition in the Old and New Testaments have to do with this one thing—namely, with what the heart is loving and following. 

Much more could be said about this subject in general, but because of the generation that we live in, and the unique temptations of our age, I would like to narrow my scope somewhat and speak more specifically about the most common forms of entertainment, recreation, and media. And though I know that my sentiments on this subject run contrary to the current of our culture, I can assure you that I didn’t acquire them from my upbringing, nor from any people or books. The way I came to these convictions was by a sincere and child-like attempt to pay attention to the teachings of grace, the light of Jesus Christ, in my own conscience. And I ask no more than that you consider these things in seriousness and humility before the Lord, together with the Scriptures that I reference.

In 1 Corinthians 10:31, Paul writes: “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Now I ask you, when you are watching movies, sports, playing video games, or scrolling endlessly through social media, can you sincerely say that you are doing these things for the glory of God? Is your heart set upon Him, your will submitted to His, your mind fixed on things above? Is it not more accurate to say that generally, in these moments, the glory of God is the furthest thing from your mind? Are you not more commonly thinking about the glory of man, his accomplishments, his beauty, his ambitions, possessions, and pleasures? Have you never felt that giving your time and your mind to such things actually distracts you from what is spiritually real, and increases your desires for what is not real? Have you never felt that by devoting thoughts, time, and emotions to these earthly desires and interests, you are feeding the very nature in you that Christ is trying to crucify? Or that you are grieving and resisting the mustard seed of grace in your heart, that the Lord desires to grow?

In Philippians 4:8, Paul writes, “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell upon these things.” But in the vast majority of media, movies, and video games, are you not “dwelling upon” something of a very different nature? Are you not hearing or seeing values, morals, worldviews, behaviors, and conversations that are the furthest thing from the purpose of God and from the truth as it is in Jesus? Are you not filling your mind with carnal dreams and impure desires, with unreal images of beasts and heroes, with false stories, shallow romances, dirty humor, enticing images, photoshopped bodies, violent battles, and vulgar words? Can you say that these things don’t affect your heart, or “wage war against your soul”? Will you say that because they are on a screen, and are not “real,” that they have no real effect, when every day you  can watch the world around you being changed into their image?

Peter says, “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear.” And Paul says, “But this I say, brethren, the time is short… those who weep should live as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess, and those who use this world as not misusing it. But with TV series, video games, movies and media, man is literally inventing and selling ways to waste his precious time! Every day there are new and alluring ways to invest the mind and heart in things that are worthless, distracting and corrupting, things that lead the heart OUT of the fear of the Lord, OUT of the love of God, OUT of every thought of death, judgment and eternity, and into a careless, light, numb and thoughtless state, where heavenly things seem unreal and far away, and earthly things feel big and important.

Over and over the apostles exhort us to be “sober and vigilant”, to be “reverent, temperate,” and “watchful”, so that we can live in the Spirit, walk in the light, abide in Christ, and hear His voice. But how watchful and sober are we being when we are laughing uncontrollably at witty sarcasm, sexual innuendos, funny insults, dirty jokes, and hilarious videos. How conscious are we of spiritual reality, when we have already checked out of natural reality in order to live another person’s life in a movie or video game. Jesus says, “I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.” But tell me, is there anything BESIDES idle words in these things? Is there anything that is spiritually true or real, anything that awakens the heart, imparts grace, points to eternity, or teaches us to live for it? 

And besides all of this, do any of these things ever satisfy us, on any level? Don’t they just create ever-increasing desires for more? Be honest, is it hard for you to stop scrolling? Or have you ever seen part one, and not felt an incredible need to see part 2? Friends, what are we doing with all of this? I’ll tell you what we’re doing: we are loving the world and the things of the world. We are developing a friendship with the world that is enmity with God. 

I am not anti-technology. I am not anti-anything. All that I say on this subject comes from a simple desire that Christians be honest with themselves, and put themselves in the way of experiencing a Christianity that is REAL, a gospel that is the life of God in the soul of man. God is the God of the heart. He made the heart, and He desires to reign there alone. The heart of a true Christian must learn to look unto Jesus, to set his eyes on things above. He must become disentangled with the things of time, and lay aside the weights and hooks that hold us here. I heard a friend recently say, “Time is like a mudslide, and you’re in it.” And time will eventually take from you all that it gave to you in this world. Time gives you things, and then time takes them from you, and one day the only thing that will remain in you is either the presence or absence of Christ. This is why Paul says, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

Let me be clear about one thing before I finish. I am ENTIRELY convinced that the natural man—in both his good and his bad—can neither know God nor please Him. And I am aware that outward regulations and written laws, of themselves, are not able to change the inward man. But I am also ENTIRELY convinced that if we follow the desires of the natural man, feeding his appetites, spending our precious time in the pleasure, purpose and friendship of the world, then we will make ourselves enemies of God, and experience nothing of His work in our hearts.

Sometimes when I talk about this subject, Christians seem afraid of exercising self-discipline or of making rules for themselves about such things, fearing that they will fall into legalism or works. Much could be said on this subject. But suffice to say for now, that there is absolutely no danger of this, so long as any outward rules or discipline be the fruit of a sincere inward desire to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. If your primary inward rule is a desire to offer your heart as a clean temple for the living God, redeeming the little time you have by surrendering it to the power of Christ’s light and life in the heart, then all outward things will be done for this one inward reason. Whatever changes, discipline, or rules you make for yourself with this end in view are not legalism; they are wisdom. They are so far from being works of the flesh, that they are just the opposite; they are works that spring from a heart that feels the convictions of the Spirit, and desires to be free from self by walking in the Spirit. And if in any way you err, changing things or doing things that are not necessary, or misstepping in any way to the right or to the left, you will be quickly corrected by the One you are seeking to follow. This promise remains true, and is experienced by all who walk in the “Highway of Holiness:” “Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray.” (Isaiah 35:8)