I have been wondering of late what i am and am not allowed to watch on TV. How I am and am not allowed to spend my time. I have been wondering about worldliness. We are told to be "in the world but not of it," we are told "not to love the world or anything in it, and "whoever is a friend of the world is the enemny of God!" These passages which seem pretty clear say that we can not be worldly.
Catherine Booth gives us 4 points on what worldliness is:
1) That which tells us it is worldly
2) That which in sentiment and spirit the people of the world love, esteem and enjoy
3) That which has no reference to God
4) Everything that is adverse to the Spirit of God
I had a pray and the verse that came to mind was "Do not have anything to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness." It began to make sense to me. Worldliness is when we begin to engage that with that which has no good fruit and that which engages in the fruits of darkness.
That means when I watch the cricket this weekend that I need to examine whether it will be fruitful and whether it is dark. It will be fruitful if I mentor or build relationships over this time, or use the time to relax (as long as the resting ends...) But if it is just me at home on my own then it probably could be considered fruitless and darkness.
I considered my life today and have made a few changes. Perhaps you will join me and examine your life to see what needs adjusting so we are not involved in fruitless deeds and the deeds of darkness.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Worldliness
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
3 comments:
Perhaps the best rule is to restrict your leisure to material that originated in the period from the middles ages to the close of the 19th century.
You are right to be wary of the potential dark, satanic influence of extended exposure to cricket. Short bursts of cricket are ok, but watch out for any sudden desire to compulsively text messages to random women.
With a few minor adjustments, such as only watching documenturies on the ABC (avoid mocumentaries - these are of the devil), and avoiding anything broadcast by SBS, you should be ok in this area.
A few final tips:
Avoid the potty mouth - unless you want to identify with the emergent Christian type, in which case the occasional swear word (from a restricted list) is ok if it makes you look cool.
No alcohol of the bogan variety - alco-pops, beer or cheap spirits. Stick to high quality vintage wines and expensive, top shelf cognac.
Finally, smoking fine cigars or pipes in gentelman's clubs is acceptable, but no crudities like mass-produced cigaretts, please.
James, this is an interesting thought you've posted here. The idea that 'worldliness' is an interference to our godliness is certainly something we ought to consider more often. Yet, I feel that I should raise the point that worldliness, although it comes in many tangible forms, is far more dangerous when it infiltrates the heart. Sometimes we try to combat it by removing things from our physical lives, but we forget that our hearts sometimes covet worldly desires, not necessarily things. Removing ourselves from the world physically is risky. It might quench our witness where it is most needed. Jesus, when he said "Be in the world but not of it" was careful to imply it as a state of the heart. In the same chapter, a few verses later, he said "I do not pray for you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from evil." (John 17). Worldliness is the enemy's way of appealing to our sinful nature... it's a heart thing. Love ya.
I'm immediately reminded of Paul, when he quotes someone saying "everything is permissible" and gives the response "but not everything is beneficial."
You're allowed to watch anything you want on tv. You're allowed to do anything at all. You're even allowed to break the law. But who would want to do that?
PS. David - funny stuff. But your drinking/smoking jokes are maybe slightly misplaced. Good points though.
Post a Comment