Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:15-17
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 4:1-7
It is nearly impossible to drive in the South certain times of the year without seeing the carcass of some animal or another on the roadside. Often, when my eye is caught by roadkill as I drive by, I think about how quickly that animal's day changed. One moment, it was going about the business of living--finding food, water, and other necessaries--and the next it was nothing more than meat for the worms and vultures to devour. Our lives, too, can change in just such an instant. We can never be sure when we lie down to rest that the morning will dawn for us. Indeed, the only breath we are guaranteed is the one that fills our lungs at the present moment. In the minuscule space between heartbeats a life can change--or end--once for all.
Often in the Bible, the breadth of our lives are likened to that of flowers (Psalm 103:13, Isaiah 40:6-8, James 1:10-11, et al). The blossoms of any plant burst into flower seemingly overnight and enjoy a brief season of resplendence. It is short-lived, for within days the blooms begin to droop, fade, and wither. So it is with us, for in our youth we are vibrant and vigorous but how quickly the day approaches when our flower begins to fade! What a small season we really spend on earth when viewed with the eyes of eternity!
Knowing the brevity of our lives, why not live as if today was our last--or for that matter, as if each moment is the summation of our stay on earth? Why not treasure the things that matter? Rather than allowing ourselves squander our lives building from hay and straw, giving our strength to the uncaring world, should we not build upon the solid foundation of Christ a house that will withstand the fires of testing (see 1 Corinthians 3:11-15)? For the things that we see around us, the tangible pursuits which gratify us now and give us a feeling of acceptance or of accomplishment, are often soon to be scorched and dried up by the sun. The investment we make into people, however, will endure.
When we get our hands dirty in the hard work of relationships, diligently disciplining our children, humbling ourselves for the sake of our spouses, and letting go of our desires for the sake of others, we are planting seed that will flourish and not fade, flowers that will bloom and be fertilized to produce fruit. The investment of time and attention we give to our relationships, the sacrificial love that denies self and treats others as more important, the service we pour out in love without feedback or reward, these things are those building materials that will withstand the heat of testing. These are the pursuits that will last into eternity, for our Father sees all the work we do and the motive of our hearts, and He, Himself, is our reward. He will give us life in return for all the dying we do every day, forsaking the world out of love and adoration of Him.
And so, let us commit to rejecting friendship with this world. Let us not be so caught up in transient and fruitless pursuits that our lives are futile and our eternity void and barren. Instead, let us live each day as if it is our last, for we do not know but that it may be. Any moment, we may be struck down; any moment, the Lord may return again. What is it we would like for Him to catch us doing? Do that now and every day, abandoning all else for love of Him.
Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
Colossians 3:12-24
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I’m going to be a little argumentative here. I’ve always had trouble with the distinction in scripture between ‘the world’ and ‘not of the world’. If you see someone has a nice house and you decide to set a goal to earn one for yourself and your family, I would classify it as goal driven with a strong work ethic, but here it is classified as ‘wanting something you don’t have’ which evidently leads to murder. Now I realize that this particular passage is probably aimed mostly at ‘coveting’ (defined as : to desire wrongfully, inordinately, or without due regard for the rights of others ). I don’t think most would claim that coveting is a good thing. The other concept I find interesting however is the concept of ‘asking’. “You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” So the way you rightfully obtain something is you ask for it and if you don’t get it, you asked for the wrong thing. Now how does this correspond to the concept of earning something? Is it wrong to work towards the things in which you are passionate? Yes according to this passage actually it is wrong to be passionate about anything but one thing. The concept as I understand it is that we should put aside all things, family, friends, houses, clubs, churches, etc and be passionate only and solely about God. Once that is done family, friends, houses, clubs, churches etc will be provided and we can be passionate about them… just not too passionate. This has always seemed to me to be a slow dance with semantics.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that our lives are brief and therefor as you say we should put our efforts into endeavors that are meaningful. You indicate that the enormity of the next world is the reward for the struggles in the brevity of this one. What if we turn this concept on its head? What if there is no next world? Are not the struggles we endure and the friendships and family that we nurture even more important. I don’t believe true happiness lays in acquisition or living a fast ‘worldly’ lifestyle but rather in the development of relationships with others and trying to make a positive impact on our world on a daily basis. IMO rather than looking forward for eternal reward we should look for the joy in the hum drum moments we have as we experience them. It’s just a different point of view I guess.
J--To get the full context of the passage from James, it's helpful to read just before the chapter division. The book of James is a letter and divisions were added later, and so the full concept of the quoted passage begins back in Chapter 3 where he writes of "jealousy and selfish ambition." He is not so much condemning the establishment of goals to work toward as a family provider, but condemning the selfish ambitions (ie--I want because I want to look good, because I want prestige, because my neighbor has it, or simply because I want) and jealousy. Coveting, in itself, is not so much wanting something but wanting in such a way that it becomes consuming. Wanting that produces jealousy, wanting what belongs to someone else, or wanting that becomes an end to any means. It is more obsession than want.
ReplyDeleteThe bit about murder is probably taken from Jesus' own words that if a man looks at a woman in lust, he has committed adultery with her already in his heart and if one is angry with his brother, he is liable to judgment or calls his brother a fool, he is liable to the fires of hell (Matt. 5:22-28) --in essence, the same thing. Outwardly a person may not murder or commit adultery, but what is in the heart is just as real as what is acted upon. Heart motives are addressed numerously throughout the Scripture.
As for passion, in short, yes. :-)
As for eternal life, the essence of this meditation presupposes a belief and acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and belief in eternal life. For most of my life I flatly rejected it and believed a point of view much like the one you describe. However, it was so empty and meaningless, and I had seen so much pain and suffering that, when unexpectedly pregnant with my son, I finally came to the conclusion that if life was only about the good I do and death was simply an extinguishing of the candle, than it simply wasn't worth it. All the hard work, all the suffering... for what? All my childhood was a series of train wrecks and as a teen I was withdrawn and depressed. At that time, I did not want children or any of that, but just to go about my paltry little life and be left alone. When faced with bringing a child into what I saw as a horrible place, I was at my lowest low. It was then when I decided that I had to find out, once for all, if there was anything more... if there was a God. So I looked at all the world religions I had investigated half-heartedly and decided that I should probably read the book (ie-the Bible) that I had always sneered at and claimed to disbelieve before I rejected it. And so I picked it up and said, "God, if You are there, I'm going to need You to make be believe this because I don't believe a word of it." I would echo that many times, but He answered me. By the time I got into the New Testament, I not only believed, I began to understand many things that were previously hidden.
When I was new to my faith, I had a hard time sorting out my old beliefs from my new ones, but I was passionate and committed. Any God who would humble Himself that much for me, who would give His son for me, though I mocked and spit in His face for years, and still would love me enough to do something that I, in my selfishness, wasn't even sure (at the time) that I could do for someone I loved, much less my sworn enemy--well , any God like that was worth my whole allegiance and silly life... and more. And so, the farther down the path I walked with Him, the more He revealed and the more I saw.
I don't know where you are on this particular journey and I would never presume to venture a guess. But I will say that, when I was at the beginning of it, the path was often unclear and hidden. It wasn't until I walked along that I saw what there was to see, and each new day that I continue my journey, more is revealed--like hiking in a dense fog, but one in which the fog clears behind you as you walk along...or like performing an ippon seionage without kuzushi! Whether craning your neck to peer down the path without moving or straining to lift a 200-lb guy (especially for me) who is firmly balanced, both are pretty much exercises in futility. :-) I can explain it, but it won't make a great deal of sense unless the first things are in place. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:17-- "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins."
DeleteI'll admit that the changes and wonders I've seen in my faith/walk can be discounted because I have faith, but G. K. Chesterton makes an excellent and witty point concerning that. He writes that that sort of discounting is exactly the same as conducting a study to see if man sees red when he is angry, then discounting the results because the man is angry! For me, personally, I had to take the first steps of obedience before the way became clear. It was only as God revealed His goodness to me through my belief and obedience that I began to truly trust Him more and more. Now, even though my past was not pretty, I can be thankful for it because if I had never fallen so low, perhaps I never would have seen Him waiting there to lift me up.