The late and lamented Wendell Winkler wrote of worldliness as being one of the greatest dangers facing the Lord’s church today.
“Many congregations are seething with it, and legions are they who are headed toward perdition via the pleasure route. The line of demarcation, so sharply drawn by our Lord between the church and the world, is gradually being erased. Indeed, worldliness is a malignancy gnawing at the very vitals of our spiritual beings. Such must be excised with urgency. Elders, preachers, Bible school teachers, and parents, as watchmen on the walls of Zion, must arise and fulfill their responsibility in teaching the existence, dangers, manifestations, and end this evil.”
One does not have to look very far to see that brother Winkler was right. The effects of how dangerously people are living today by taking part in things that God has condemned and says He will judge (2 Corinthians 5:10) is destroying the eternal destiny of those who participate. When immoral Entertainment is spoken of, the remembrance of filthy language, nudity, violence, and sexual innuendos are tattooed on the minds of the impressionable (1 Thessalonians 5:22). The subject of Pornography many times is at the center of broken families because individuals who participate in such things can no longer see the purity of the sexual intimacy of marriage (Hebrews 13:4). The forbidden lifestyle of Homosexuality is running rampant all over the world because of the lack of respect for God and His Word (Romans 1:26-27). Social Drinking seems to have become the norm in most places because man has come to “think” he needs it for rest, relaxation, and social acceptance (Proverbs 20:1). Pride and Envy, Covetousness, Anger and Wrath, Corrupt Speech are all based upon a selfish approach to life that allows one to believe he deserves everything he wants (Ephesians 4:31).
The command to live “soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world” (Titus 2:12), is the prevention tool for the one who would be destroyed by the evils that are present in the world in which he lives. God has created man as a free moral agent. That simply means he can choose what he wants to do with his life. God is not going to make him mind His Word. Instead, man must make up his own mind as to which spiritual life he will live (Matthew 7:21-23). The very heartbeat of man’s faith is based upon two words, “God said.” Apart from these words there can be no demonstration of one’s faith in God. Therefore, if one is going to avoid, or come out from the evils of the world it will be base upon a faith in what “God said…”
The inspired writer of 1 John 2:15-17, which is the apostle John, warns man against the desires he may have for those things that exist in the world. He writes of a love forbidden by God (v. 15). He pinpoints the identity of the desires Satan uses to draw one away from God (v. 16). John, then describes how temporary such desires truly are (v. 17). With the rest of our discussion, the intention of this writer is to introduce the subject of “worldliness.” To do that, three points will be considered: (1) What is worldliness?; (2) Why is the study of worldliness important?; and (3) How does one avoid worldliness?
(Lord willing, continued next week)