James 4:4 – “Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” (NRSVue)
There are a lot of things that Christians disagree upon, but there are some essentials that nearly all accept. There is the centrality of Jesus Christ in their lives, the significance of the crucifixion and resurrection in understanding Christ’s salvific mission for us, and the importance of the Bible as guiding our way of life.
Another thing many Christians agree upon is that the world is bad. Jesus says, “My kingdom is not of this world,” and speaks of his disciples being “in the world”, but not belonging “to the world.” The epistles are full of warnings against living according to the flesh and not dying to the world to live according to Christ. That Christians should reject the ways of the world is quite evident.
The real question is, “How are we to reject the world?” Here is where we get many different answers. We can reject the world completely and live in separate communities like the Amish do. Or we can reject those parts that seem to go against our understanding of God that we find in the Bible, in our prayers, and in our experience and understanding of God.
Some Christians look at a world where the most vulnerable are abused and the threads of social cohesion are pulled apart by selfishness, greed, and a desire for power. These are the ways of the world to be rejected. To these Christians, God accepts us for who we are, but calls for wrath against the injustices of society that deny the dignity of all people. Other Christians see a world that is too permissive to all kinds of destructive behaviors and which accepts secular ways of science and philosophy above the unimpeachable Word of the Bible. To these Christians, God has created a society which should provide the structure to keep people focused on God. God’s wrath is against individuals who turn away from the faith in their selfishness and delusion and infect society with their wickedness.
To be a Christian is to examine what parts of life pull us away from God and which parts help us to understand God’s love and grace. And these may be different things to different people. Some people maintain the faith of their families to resist the chaos of the world, but others find God through turning away from a faith that seems restrictive or even harmful. However, I think that all Christians can agree that love is how we best understand God. And if our faith in God causes us to hate other people and deny their dignity as children of God, we are doing something wrong.
This week, think about what parts of the world you reject as a Christian, and which parts you accept. Question whether those parts you accept are things that you see as part of God’s love for the world or whether they are things you accept out of habit, a desire to fit it, or a need to find success. And if the ways of the world pull you apart from God, pray about how you can change that.
Prayer: Dear Lord, help me discern how the world pulls me apart from you and how I can love without fear. Amen.
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