The Things of the World
By Nell Stevenson

When I was a girl it used to upset me when my Dad said that “all the world” was one big puppet show; in other words, a farce. He declared that the world was not what it seemed and that greed and love of money was the driving force behind everything. He was not educated but I soon found out that he was a very wise man.

The New Testament use of “world” originates with the Greek word, “Kosmos” which means an orderly arrangement or adornment designed with a spiritual purpose.

Throughout the New Testament the “world” is described in a bad light because even then it was ruled by Satan  (Luke 4: 5, 6) and everything in his domain is naturally anti-Christ. Slowly but surely the spiritual purpose behind the world system has advanced Satan’s cause. Good and bad are reversed and everything seems to be off balance. To prepare to enter the righteous Kingdom of our Lord, which will be a reality some day, the follower of Christ is admonished to “keep himself unspotted from the world” (Jas.1: 27) and its corrupting influence. How is this possible when there are so many ways in which the world touches our lives?

First we must understand that the organizations of this world and the material effects in our lives are not in themselves inherently evil or good. It is the spirit behind them that gives them their character. God also has a government, an orderly arrangement if you will, but His Kingdom is not of this world; nor are we who profess to be Christians. “They are not of this world, even as I am not of this world…”(Jn.17:16) We may think then that all is well as long as we read the bible, attend church on the Lord’s day and keep the Ten commandments. If only it were that simple.

Let’s remember that Satan masquerades as an angel of light and uses subtle means to draw us into his sphere of influence. As in the beginning he appeals to “ the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and the pride of life” (1Jn.2:15) to slowly erode our trust in God and encourage worldliness, jealousy and quarrelling (see 1Cor.3:3} Christ’s prayer for us is “not that thou shoulds’t take them out of the world, but that Thou shoulds’t protect them from the evil one”. (Jn.17:15 ) Indeed we do need protection!! Everything we touch in this world is of the adversary. His purpose is to lure us away from God, and he is very clever in convincing us to compromise our allegiance.

Jehovah is not a God of situation ethics or of compromise. He is constant and his word to His people is clear; “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 John 2:15) This seems harsh; does He really mean this?  Well, the same idea is reinforced in (Jas.4:4) “ whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is an enemy of God”. That sounds like an all or nothing deal- a friend of God or a friend of the world.

Worldliness is a concept that isn’t taught much in the church today, but it is alive and well. As Christians we make many choices that blend us in with the world and Satan’s agenda. We forget that “If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own: but because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”  (Jn.15:18) That is a consequence that is hard to deal with.  Blending in is easier than being disliked. But why should it be easy for us?

Daniel in ancient Babylon was surrounded by a pagan lifestyle. He was “in” that world, but on pain of death he refused to participate in it. Today we also find ourselves in a type of Babylon system more and more immersed in an anti-Christ world. It is a world of confusion where traditional values have been blurred. Activities like partying, smoking, drinking, and gambling that used to be shunned as worldly have become tolerated and then accepted in the Christian community. Can these behaviours which may lead to addictions and to serious health and social problems be acceptable to God? In order to “not be conformed to the pattern of this world” (Rom.12:1,2) as is required of us, we as Christians may have to be “unfriendly” to some ideas and activities the world condones. It may mean opting out of Hallowe’en, declining an invitation to a movie or party or to an activity planned on the Lord’s day.

Our desire to be accepted in society can easily lead us to compromise our Christianity and live our lives with one foot in the world and the other in the Bible. Living “in the world” necessitates that we have a job or go to school, rent or buy a home, shop for groceries, use transportation etc., but “fitting in with the crowd” can make us slaves to the very anti-Christ system that we oppose. This kosmos continues to create needs we never knew we had and entices us into a life of bondage to the almighty dollar.

Increasingly, time and money is dedicated to the modern idols of television, computers, sports, entertainment and shopping instead of to the Lord.  Some no longer shun lotteries and casinos as ways of making more money to fulfill an insatiable appetite for the worldly lifestyle; a better car, a larger home, newer furnishings. Out with the old, in with the new.  First  John. 5:19 says, “the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” His offer of material wealth and pleasure comes at a high price; participating in the world means unwitting participation in the anti-Christ Babylon system.

This is the game that the “prince of this world” has set up to draw us into his web of secularism! It is easy to be lured in and indulge ourselves and our children with all the latest toys and gadgetry available, giving no thought to how this may shape their concept of God as a sort of Santa Claus figure. The “I’m worth it” and “must have it” attitude dictated by anti-Christ sentiment takes our focus off of our Lord and traps us in a cycle of unending need and greed.

Perhaps Satan has duped us into believing that the world can satisfy all our desires.

This is the spiritual purpose of the present kosmos that we must avoid. Have we let our pursuit of affluence draw us gradually away from Almighty God? Have we inadvertently become slaves to the world of pleasure, materialism and self- fulfillment, giving our lifestyle priority over our Creator? Anything that does that makes us part “of the world”.

Perhaps we don’t realize that the dollar sign ($) S with a line through it, means “under the bondage of Satan”. The English Pound sign, L with a line through it, means “under the bondage of Lucifer”. Indeed our Israelite nations are under his bondage, but as individuals we can still choose our allegiance. We can be separate and have an abundant life “in the world” but avoid the bondage “of the world”.

May we say with Paul, “ Let me never boast except in the cross of our Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world”.(Gal.6:14)

May we be known not as people “of the world”, but rather as people “of the Word.”