The Little Letters - Day 7

1 John 2:15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
18 Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this, we know that the last hour has come. 19 These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise, they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us.
20 But you are not like that, for the Holy One has given you his Spirit, and all of you know the truth. 21 So I am writing to you not because you don’t know the truth but because you know the difference between truth and lies. 22 And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist. 23 Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father, either. But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
24 So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father.25 And in this fellowship we enjoy the eternal life he promised us.
26 I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray. 27 But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.
28 And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame.
29 Since we know that Christ is righteous, we also know that all who do what is right are God’s children.

Lots of text today, so I won’t belabor the point. I want to lean into the first three verses. “In the world, but not of it”--is a phrase that is most commonly used to characterize the believers relationship to “the world.” But there are many different ideas about what “worldliness” truly is. Some think it is behaviors, like attending movies, drinking coffee or alcohol, dancing, or listening to certain types of music. We see this most profoundly in communities such as the Amish, who have eschewed many of the modern conventions of this world. But if there is a common thread to all of this it is the desire to shape one’s life to the will of God, rather than to the will of the world.

I think everyone would probably agree with this. But the author of James sees worldliness as more than the idea of outlawing some behaviors that other people might tolerate. We are called to a much more active devotion to the God that shapes all that we are and what we do. Barclay, in his commentary, captures the essence of the passage when he titles it “Rivals for the Human Heart!”

1. Who is working for control of your heart? 
2. What do you believe “worldliness” to be? 
3. How can you make sure you are working to conform your life to a life that is shaped by Jesus?