by Dennis Stackhouse<\/p>\n
The fact that Christian people are to be different from those who do not follow Christ, is clearly stated for us in I John 2:15-17: “Do not love the world nor 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 lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.<\/em>” The original term that is translated as “world” is used here by John to identify those people whose thoughts and actions are opposed to God, those whose lives are not guided by God’s word.<\/p>\n The Scriptural plea to not love the world is put in very graphic, unmistakable language in James 4:4, where we read: “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” This verse clearly makes a separation between the world and God; it would be impossible for anyone to “ride the fence” in this regard. We cannot have one foot in the world and one foot in God’s camp, it has to be one or the other. Jesus, Himself reinforces such a thought in Matthew 12:30: “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters<\/em>.” So many people want a third choice, an area of non-commitment where they are neither serving God nor the world. But Jesus said this is impossible; we are either for Him or we are against Him. In other words, if we are not serving God we are serving the devil, even if we don’t realize it.<\/p>\n Paul had this to say in Romans 12:2: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect<\/em>.” For the Christian, conformity with the world is unacceptable. In fact, we are to be completely different from the world so that others can see what it looks like to be a follower of God. James 1:27 gives us another insight as to how a Christian should be living above the world: “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.<\/em>” For every one of us seeking to live as a Christian, we are not to allow the practices and thoughts of this world to invade our lives.<\/p>\n Is it possible to escape this physical world that surrounds us? Certainly not. But even though we are living in the world, Christian people should not be living as the world. We are to be different; the non-Christians we encounter should be able to see Christ living in us (Galatians 2:20). Paul put it very well in Philippians 2:15: “Prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world<\/em>.” That is a terrific goal all Christians should embrace as we seek to not love the world.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Dennis Stackhouse The fact that Christian people are to be different from those who do not follow Christ, is clearly stated for us in I John 2:15-17: “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[179,609],"class_list":["post-48158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-sin","tag-worldliness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24778,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-it-mean-to-love-the-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":48158,"position":0},"title":"What does it mean to love the world?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What does it mean to love the world? Answer: \"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 lust of the flesh, the lust of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34285,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-abstract-art-and-thinking-abstractly-diving-into-worldly-thought\/","url_meta":{"origin":48158,"position":1},"title":"Is abstract art and thinking abstractly diving into worldly thought?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 2, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it OK to observe and draw abstract art because abstract art is all about changing thought patterns and perceptions of things? But I don't want to depart in my thinking of God. I don't want to be tricked into worldly thought patterns. Answer: Worldly thinking is focusing on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17975,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-a-sin-to-enjoy-getting-aroused-from-what-i-wear\/","url_meta":{"origin":48158,"position":2},"title":"Is it a sin to enjoy getting aroused from what I wear?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 24, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just enjoy wearing white nylon briefs. It makes me aroused, but nothing more than that. After arousal, I put them off and wear my normal shorts because it looks like a sin. Is it a sin or a psychological problem? Is it not normal? Answer: What you are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92429,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/unregulated-desires\/","url_meta":{"origin":48158,"position":3},"title":"Unregulated Desires","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Chadwick Brewer \"For everything in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-comes not from the Father but from the world\" (I John 2:16). Our desires come from God. He created desire between a husband and wife. He created beauty in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33756,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/we-started-to-have-sex-but-didnt-complete-it-how-do-we-go-back-to-purity-in-our-relationship\/","url_meta":{"origin":48158,"position":4},"title":"We started to have sex but didn’t complete it. How do we go back to purity in our relationship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My boyfriend and I committed a sexual activity, we started sex but didn't complete it. We just were involved in foreplay. Anyway, I'm 19 and he's 22. We are in a serious relationship and have been for almost three years. We met in college while taking the same program.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11808,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/questions-about-james-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":48158,"position":5},"title":"Questions about James 4","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 26, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Before I start, I changed Bibles. The one I was using was one that has been in my collection of books for a long time, and it's from the church I used to go to. The one I have now is supposed to be the most accurate. 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