What is the main point of this passage? Don't love the world! It is pretty clear and concise isn't it? Don't love the world. But what does that really mean? Does it mean that you are supposed to be hate everything about life...the people around you...the fallen creation that we live in? No, that's not what it means. Does it mean that you are supposed to live a joyless, cynical life here while you stoically wait for the eternal life that is to come? No, it doesn't mean that either. Did it seem like Jesus hated to world when he was bringing healing and hope to messed up sinful people any time he got the chance? Did he seem like he was just waiting around to die while he was modeling true life and bringing revolutionary change everywhere he went? So what does it mean to NOT love the world? I think to get there we need to define two important terms in this passage - "love" and "world." I know that many people associate love with warm fuzzy feelings, but I have always defined love as a commitment (By "always" I am referring to my adult life...no I was not setting up meaningful definitions of love at three years old). Love says that even when there are times my wife and I do not like each other (I can be rather annoying at times) - we are absolutely committed to one another. Attraction and momentary feelings do not impact the covenant relationship of love that we have. When John writes the word "world," he is not talking about creation. He is not talking about humanity. When he uses the term "world" he is referring to rebellious human nature and the lies that have come about because of that nature. Throughout scripture godliness and worldliness are held up as two warring worldviews. The world that John refers to is about pride, idolatry, instant gratification, self worship and it is openly rebellious against the way of God. When John says that we are not supposed to love the world, he is giving us a very important challenge. He is saying do not commit yourself to the ways of this world. Do not sell out and give your self over to greed...to lust...to self...to idolizing other people or things...this kind of love for twisted lies will only lead to ruin in our lives ad in our souls. So the point of this passage is that we should not anchor ourselves to finite things that are truly meaningless in the big picture of eternity. Instead we should love God and commit ourselves to living for the eternal right now.
What part of this passage spoke most deeply to you? I have read this verse many, many times...I have heard it preached on...seen it quoted in books. But for some reason, I just can't get it completely through my thick skull!!! After all these years of ministry...of Christianity...of pouring over scripture...I still find myself drawn in to the lies of this world. I still find myself listening to the whispers that tell me that what I possess in material goods really matters. I still find myself giving the desires of the flesh more importance than they really deserve. Is sex great is a committed marital relationship? Heck yes! Should I allow my desire for it to totally dominate my thoughts and control my level of contentment? No! I know the ideals of the world are toxic...I have experienced the corrupted life that committed to these ideals brings about...but I still struggle with keeping my focus on the eternal versus the temporary physical world I live in daily. And when I say eternal...I don't mean that I am just waiting around for Jesus to come back so I can be done with this world...I don't mean that I am just waiting to die so I can finally get to heaven. Living for eternity right now for me, is about living with purpose...it is about living to create disciples of Christ...it is about practicing the worship of God in everything I do...it is about joining God in the redemptive work that He is doing in the world. These things are so good, and when I am living for the eternal my life is so much better and so much more fulfilling, but I still struggle to maintain my focus. I think it has a lot to do with what I am allowing to pour into my life on a daily basis. I make it a point to regularly read scripture, but for the most part there are a lot more messages from the "world" pouring into my brain from TV, the Internet, radio, movies, etc. than there are from God's Word. Of course it is going to be a struggle to remember to live for the eternal when I am allowing myself to be constantly bombarded with the meaningless. I have got to start cutting out the influx of lies and focusing more fully on dwelling in the TRUTH.
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