Dear BPCWA worshipper, There is a great misunderstanding of worldliness in Christendom. Some Christian groups today teach that “gain is godliness”. This is well demonstrated in the health and wealth gospel so popular today, from which God commands “from such withdraw thyself” (1 Tim 6:5). This is an easy message that finds ready acceptance among many because it is appealing to the flesh. Followers, and even churches, of such a gospel have no qualms in seeking after mammon. On the other end of the spectrum are also some groups who believe that to be “unspotted from the world” (Jas 1:27) means that their communities should dress in very plain traditional clothing, not own cars, avoid tapping from the public electricity grid, have limited formal education and that only in their own schools, and totally avoid mass media. 

Worldliness in us. However, the Christian must realize that worldliness is not merely about what you do or do not do outwardly. You can avoid things outwardly but inwardly yearn for the world. Our Lord wants us to understand, “And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: (11) Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man” (Mat 15:10-11). What we must know is that worldliness is a sin that first takes its root in the heart. The outward actions and speech merely betray what has overtaken the heart, like those in the health and wealth gospel. These are easy to spot. But in a conservative evangelical environment, worldliness may well exist too, just deceptively. Owning things does not constitute worldliness, but a matter of the motivations of the heart and the attitude towards the things. What has been your reaction to the past few pastorals? Do you feel you are above the world’s temptations? Are you upset that some of the points brought up seem to hit so close to home? Have you been entertaining thoughts of being less serious about following God so closely? If so, read on.

Respond to God’s call to a holy, not worldly, life. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, the resounding call for His people is “be ye holy, for I am holy” (Lev 11:44, 1 Pet 1:15). God does not give us a command He will not give us the power to keep. I hope that as you read this pastoral, if some of the examples in the past pastorals have struck a chord in your hearts, you will not brush it aside with the thought that “everyone is like that and you will have to go out of the world to not be worldly”. That is the exact argument that Christ anticipated, which was why He prayed to the Father “not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil” (Jhn 17:15). Yes, we are not perfect and may always have to repent of some degree of worldliness which we may not be cognizant of. Yet, it is no excuse not to act when God convicts us by the Holy Spirit and requires us to repent once He brings it to our attention. We must not dismiss it, turn a blind eye to it, or excuse it because “no one is perfect”. Simply because all have sinned doesn’t mean that Christians should not wrestle against sin. God does not think that loving the world is a small misdemeanour, so neither should we. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 Jhn 2:15).

Time to make some changes. Since this sin begins in the heart, the first step must be a sincere and wholehearted acknowledgment that what God says is absolutely true, and willingly change our thinking. 1) We must unequivocally accept God’s truth above the world’s precepts. God’s Word must be received humbly with a childlike heart. If God tells us that loving the world will seriously affect our love for Him, we must fear it. When He warns us about our love for the ways of the world, we must believe Him, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Prov 14:12). Sure, the world is attractive and alluring. But, we must determine to never admire, esteem, and desire its ways and concepts when it affects our holiness. We must be unflinching in this way of thinking, not just for our safety, but also simply because God is God and He alone must reign Supreme in our lives. When the world’s opinion differs from God’s Word, we must be prepared to unwaveringly take sides and say that “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.” (1 Cor 3:19). When God reveals a sin in us, we must not refuse to hear, pull away our shoulder, stop our ears, and make our hearts as an adamant stone (Zec 7:11,12). Don’t hate the messenger because of the message he carries. Hate the sin that is revealed. 2) We must walk with a good conscience before God. We may come up with excuses that no one can dispute. We can deceive man, but not God. Let us not forget that the omniscience of God is something that we will come face to face before one day when “every man’s work shall be made manifest” (1 Cor 3:13). On that day, will God say to you “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Mt 25:21), or will God say instead “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” (Lu 12:20). You can fool man, but you can’t fool God. 3) Let each of us examine ourselves. Examine our choices. If we are willing to give up God’s things and godly living in order to gain the comforts and luxuries of the good life rather than the other way around, then we love the world and the love of the Father is not in us. It is a frightening thought if any of us have reached such a state in life and I pray that this pastoral will be a wake-up call. Examine what our hearts (and hence our lives) serve. Are you more occupied with how to earn more so that you can have more in this world? But God uncompromisingly says “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matt 6:24). Your heart cannot be shared between the LORD and idols. It is one or the other. The love for the world displaces the love of the Father. Your spiritual life will shrivel and wither. 4) Wean ourselves from the desire of the world’s tinsel. There is a saying that “All that glitters is not gold” – an apt description of what the world dangles in front of the eyes of everyone. As the hymn goes “this world’s empty glory is costing me too dear.” What you desire or lust after is what you will pursue. When we pursue something, there is an opportunity cost of something else that we forsake in order to pursue that thing. Clothing, accessorising, eating, drinking “do the nations of the world seek after” (Lu 12:30). While these things are not sinful in themselves, it is the preoccupation and the amassing for this life that causes us to fall into a carnal life. Such an earthbound life will cost both now and in eternity. Hence, Christ tells us to “provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Lu 12:33, 34). Determine in our hearts that true worth are heavenly things, and what we get on this earth are but counterfeits designed to rob us of the true treasures that God desires to give to us at the end of our earthly sojourn. 5) Don’t cause your family to sin. We pray, “lead us not into temptation”, but do we lead our family into it? God says your family will learn from your sins. They will idolise what you put first in your life, “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me” (Ex 20:5). The spouse and children growing up in the home environment learn to sin as their flesh adopts these sinful characteristics, desires, and way of life as the norm. Parents, repent before it is too late. The first commandment is clear – you either worship and serve the LORD alone or you will serve the gods of this world.

It is time to stop being an adulterer. How do you feel about an adulterer? That’s how God describes a worldly Christian. “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (Jas 4:4). We can sing it, but whose side will you choose to be on? Choose whom you will serve today by repenting and bearing the fruits of repentance. Worldliness is a sin that God hates because it displaces Him and destroys you at the same time. This is a sin that affects young and old, men, women, and children. The Christian’s only solution to the love for the world is simply to “love not the world”.

Jesus calls us from the worship of the vain world’s golden store,
from each idol that would keep us, saying “Christian, love me more.”

In our joys and in our sorrows, days of toil and hours of ease,
still he calls, in cares and pleasures, “Christian, love me more than these.”

Jesus calls us! In your mercy, Savior, help us hear your call;
give our hearts to your obedience, serve and love you best of all!

Yours in our Lord’s service,
Pastor