We Are the World

I John 2:15 - 17

What does it mean, “Do not love the world or anything in the world.’”?  Before I answer this question I think it is best if I first talk about what it does NOT mean.

1)     It does not mean that we do not care for the planet God has given us.  Often times people use this verse to justify not caring for the planet or neglecting our responsibilities that God has given us for this world.  

a)     Now before you go and label me a tree hugging environmentalist I do want to make myself clear.  This world is a gift to humanity.  God took great care in creating it for His glory and our pleasure.  As with any gift it is proper and respectful to take great care of the gift that was given to us.  We have inherited this planet from our human ancestors Adam and Eve.  God created the garden for them and their role was to care for the garden, to tend it and reap the joys and benefits of paradise.

b)     I do believe as Christians we have the responsibility to care for our planet and treat it as a gift from God.  However we should never put the care or love of the planet over God.  It is His creation, designed to draw people to Him.

2)     It does not mean that we should not love anything that is not “labeled” Christian.  This verse has been used by countless abusive pastors or Christians who try to impose their religious convictions on others. 

a)     We Christians can be a fickle bunch of judgmental moral police.  We are quick to judge someone because they don’t hold to the same convictions we hold to.  We have heard countless sermons on the evils of television, music, public education, unbelievers, money and so on and have used these scripture verses as our text.

b)     The truth is there is just as much evil within the Christian culture as there is in the secular culture.  I can stand up here today and name person after person who was/is a Christian musician, author, actor etc. and has fallen just as hard as the non-believer.  This is sad and unfortunate but is the truth.  Just because something is labeled Christian or is not labeled Christian does not make it right or wrong.

c)      I don’t believe John was writing about how we as Christians should create a bubble around us and deem everything outside of the bubble bad, evil and untouchable.  He is speaking of something far bigger than this.

          Typically, in the Bible, whenever the world is mentioned it is referred in a negative manner such as loving it, following, or being influenced by the world systems.  In general it talks about the ways of the ungodly or the general thinking of mankind who has rejected God.  The (definition of the world) is the world of sin that is in direct opposition to God.  The physical world we live in is good and will find redemption someday.  Yet there are those who do live in the world follow evil impulses and turn their backs on God.  As Christians this is a very important verse for us to have in our hearts, because Jesus even implied that we (Christians) are to be in the world, but not of the world.

We are here on this earth by default, but we need to be careful to not let the world influence our thinking, our actions and our lives.  The world’s thinking is opposite to what Jesus commands of us.  The world tells us to seek money, power, sex and things and this will bring selfish pleasure, fulfillment and happiness.  Jesus tells us different. 

I believe John is telling the Christian to avoid an infatuation or obsession with worldly ungodliness, the realm of darkness and its base pleasures. 

          In II Corinthians 4:4 it says this world system and thinking belongs to Satan.  It even refers to him as the “god of this world.”  This does not mean the world as a whole belongs to Satan, but what it does mean plain and simply is those who follow the world’s ways and have chosen to reject God have indeed allowed Satan to be the god of their lives.  Now I am sure if you talk to an unbeliever he will not actually acknowledge Satan as his God.  No, he has literally tricked or deceived the unbeliever into believing the lies of the world and following his ways.  He wants you to think that all there is to life is money, power, selfish pleasure and self fulfillment, but as we will soon see this is empty and leads to an empty life.

          Not only does John tell us to not love the world he goes so far as to say if you love the world and it’s ways then the love of the Father is not in you.  Why is the love of the father not in you?  Because everything the world represents goes against God and what He represents.

According to today’s passage this is what the world represents… 

1)     Cravings of sinful man or as some versions say, “The desires of the flesh.”  This could mean sensual or sexual desires, but probably means more than that.  It probably means any sinful desire that draws us away from God or at least makes continuing fellowship with Him impossible.  In some form it is idolatry… anything that causes us to turn from God is an idol and God will not take back seat to anyone or anything.

2)     The Lust of the eyes.  The eye is often a symbol for sinful infatuation that corrupts.  (Examples Eve and David)  Matthew 6:22 tells us, “The eye is the lamp of the body.  If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.”  What we allow pass through our eyes can quickly determine what is in our minds.  What are you allowing to enter in to your body through your eyes?  Are you viewing pornography on the internet, or looking at magazines that degrade men and women?  Are you watching TV shows that devalue people in general through sex and lust?  I realize we live in a highly visual world and it is nearly impossible to filter everything you look at, I mean you can’t drive in a car and look at the billboards without defiling your eyes, but we can filter what we willingly let pass into our eyes. 

3)     Boasting of what he has and does or “The Pride of life”.  This is unholy smugness, a pompous arrogance or subtle snobbery… “I’m better than so and so” attitude that comes from one’s view of wealth, rank or stature in society.  It is an overconfidence attitude that causes us to lose our dependence on God.  The world tells us to rely on nobody except for yourself, never let them see you sweat. 

What I find interesting about worldliness is that it can be defined simply as self satisfaction without regard for others.  

This is what John tells us to deny.  We should not resort to this definition of worldliness to define our individuality, morality and success in life.  This is hard because the world and all it represents portrays itself in a nice package.  Everything about it is appealing, I mean pre-marital sex is very tempting and it is fun; why not venture into this realm?  Having a lot of money and power is great; you can have whatever you want in life.  Being successful and independent is fulfilling, because we have no one to answer to. 

So why is it so wrong to follow the world or let it influence us?  Because the worlds influence does not come from the Father.  Everything that I mentioned is contrary to what God has established for us as Christians.  The world’s promises and fulfillment are empty.  They are pretty packages with nothing inside.  King Solomon, one of the most successful Kings in the history of the world had it all.  He had tons of money, influence, power, he had 100’s of women at his leisure, he had a beautiful home you name it, he had it.  You know what his conclusion was about all this stuff?  He said, “It’s all empty.”  There is no pleasure in this stuff, I found no fulfillment in it, the only fulfillment I find is in God the Creator. 

John says this in the conclusion, “The world and it’s desires shall pass away.”  You’ve heard the saying, “He who dies with the most toys wins!”  I actually like the rebuttal to that saying, “He who dies with the most toys still dies.”  This is the truth, we should not be investing in material gains of life, we should be investing in the spiritual or as John says, “Doing the will of God” and then we shall know what it means to have true fulfillment. 

          What does it mean to do the will of God?  I believe God’s will is that all men be saved, and that we all have membership in the family of God.  Also I believe he not only desires for us to be saved, but to live our lives in submission to him and in obedience to His word, and put it into practice.