If you are a Christian, God has a two-part message he really wants you to get: don’t love the things of this world, but be sure to love the people in the world. That’s very difficult for Christians to obey because most of us do the exact opposite: we love the things of the world, but not its people.
Consider the first part of the message: In 1 John 2:15 we’re told, “Do not love the world or anything that belongs to the world. If you love the world, you do not love the Father.”
The word translated “world” is the Greek word, kosmos and it refers not to the earth as a physical entity, but to the arrangement or order of things; in other words, it refers to the world as a system of values. God is saying that we can’t have divided loyalties; we can’t love both God’s values and the world’s values at the same time because they are mutually exclusive.
Looking at the lifestyle of most Christians I would have to say we disagree with that; we are convinced we can love both God and the world at the same time.
But that would be like me saying to my wife, “Lauren, I love you, I really do, and to prove it I’ve decided to be faithful to you.
To show you the depth of my love I’m committing most of my life to you. I will, of course, want to be intimate with a few other women, but I want you to know that none of them will mean as much to me as you do.
You’re the most important woman in my life.” Do you think my declaration of love would move her? Oh yeah, it would move her alright … right out of my life! What about the faithfulness of someone who says to God, “I’ll be faithful to you every Sunday morning, but give me the rest of my week…” We need to ask ourselves if partial faithfulness is any kind of faithfulness at all.
God says we are not to love the world, but we are to love worldly people. We are told over and over again to “go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night…” (Phil. 2:15-16).
Unfortunately, many Christians interpret “carrying the Light-giving message” to mean we are to thrust the principles of Christ in the faces of nonbelievers with a dire warning: “Turn or burn you rotten sinner! You better take that pie-in-the-sky or you’re gonna die and fry!”
Far too often, the Gospel (a word that literally means “good news”) is presented with an unloving, legalistic attitude that says, “I’m better than you.”
Is it so surprising that many people in Hollister find Christians to be obnoxious, self-righteous, holier-than-thou types who they want nothing to do with?
How would Jesus interact with those who reject God and His principles if he was their neighbor or coworker? Would he not be kind, gentle and loving?
It’s no surprise to me that Jesus was a magnet to those whom the “righteous” considered to be “sinners” (or that those who called themselves righteous were offended by him).
I sometimes get myself in trouble by asking why so many Christians create their own alternative, parallel culture.
Instead of trying to live in the world while not being of it, we form exclusive little “holy huddles” where we can enjoy “Christian” music, entertainment, hobbies and, most importantly, friendships devoted solely to other Christians. Yet Jesus was always accessible to non-Christians.
And not just accessible, but cultivating friendships with them. He relished opportunities to show love to them. Should our lifestyle be any different than His?
I occasionally hear Christians say, “I’m tired of working with non-Christians; I want a job where I am surrounded by people like me.” I can almost hear God saying, “No, no, no… time out… you’ve missed the point.
I want you in a place where you can share My love with those who don’t know Me… where you can become friends with them… where you can love them like I love them… where you can help them… where you can show them the effect I can have on a life dedicated to Me.”
Christians would do well to consider the implications of Jesus’ prayer in John 17: “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them… As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.”
Henry Harris is lead pastor of Rolling Hills Community Church, 330 Tres Pinos Rd. in Hollister. If you have questions or comments, please visit the church Web site at www.rollinghillsfamily.com, e-mail pa*********@****************ly.com or phone (831) 636-5353.
