Worldliness

Worldliness

Something to Think About
A shipwrecked sailor who had spent three years on a deserted island was overjoyed one day to see a ship drop anchor in the bay. A small boat came ashore, and an officer handed the sailor a bunch of newspapers.
"The captain suggests," he told the sailor, "that you read what is going on in the world and then let us know if you want to be rescued."

Painted Sticks
One Sunday a preacher told how, while sitting in his garden, he had watched a caterpillar climb a painted stick that was for decoration. After reaching the top, the caterpillar reared itself, feeling this way and that for a juicy twig to feed on, or some way to further progress. Finding nothing, it slowly returned to the ground, crawled along till it reached another painted stick, and did the same thing all over again. The preacher said: "There are many painted sticks in the world-those of pleasure, wealth, and fame. All these call man and say, 'Climb me to find the desire of your heart, fulfill the purpose of your existence, taste the fruit of success, and find satisfaction, but they are only painted sticks.'"
Solomon tried to find the purpose of his life in the world's "painted sticks." He gave his heart to seek wisdom, but learned that it was "vanity and vexation of spirit" (Ecclesiastes 1:15).
He then turned to the pleasures of the world for meaning in life. He built great houses, and gardens, and pools. He had servants and maidens; in fact, he had all that a man could desire. Solomon's comment on pleasure as a true source of happiness, however, was, "All was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 2:11).
After trying all that the world could offer, Solomon's final decision was, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13). The Oldest Profession on Earth
Three men, a surgeon, an engineer, and a politician, were arguing about whose profession was the oldest.
"Mine is," said the doctor. "Remember that Eve was carved out of Adam's rib."
"Admitted," said the engineer, "but remember that the earth was created out of chaos in six days. That obviously was an engineering job."
"Yes," said the politician, "but who created the chaos?"

Stylish Saints
Once a man attended a fair and saw another man leading a fine, well-groomed horse. He inquired, "Is that a saddle horse?" The other replied, "No sir. This horse will buck off a saddle. Nothing can stay on his back."
"Is he a driving horse, then?" the man asked. "No, he was hitched up once and made kindling wood of the vehicle he should have pulled."
"Well, what is he good for? Why is he here?" the man asked. The answer was, "Style, man, style. Just look at the picture he makes."
Once I was in a church building and saw people clad in fine clothes coming into the morning service. I asked the preacher, "Are those people workers in the church?" "No," he answered sadly. "Do they visit the sick and minister to the poor? Do they attend other services of the church?" "Never," said the preacher.
"There is that horse," I said to myself. "Nothing but style."

Trapped by Things
Are you trapped in the tyranny of things? A wealthy man was moving into a new house, and his next-door neighbor happened to be a Quaker. The Quakers, as you know, believe in simplicity and plainness of life. The Quaker neighbor watched as the movers carted in numerous pieces of furniture, a great deal of clothing, and many decorative pieces. Then he walked over to his wealthy new neighbor and said in his quaint Quaker way, "Neighbor, if thee hath need of anything, please come to me and I will tell thee how to get along without it." Jesus would have agreed with that advice, for He said one day, "A man's life does not consist in the abundance of things that he possesses."

Want to Carry the Ball?
The coach said to the quarterback, "Give the ball to George." But instead he gave it to John, and there was no gain.
Demanded the coach, "Why didn't you give the ball to George?"
"Sir," replied the quarterback, "George said he did not want the ball."
There was a player on our Lord's side named Demas. Like George, he did not want to carry the ball. He valued comfort above character, ease above effort, gold above God, self-indulgence above self-control.
Of him Paul wrote, "Demas has forsaken me, having loved the present world."
Are you willing to carry the ball for the Lord? The World Will Give You Up
A man said to D. L. Moody, "Now that I am converted, have I got to give up the world?" Mr. Moody answered, "No, you do not have to give up the world; if you have a good ringing testimony for the Son of God, the world will give you up pretty quick; they will not want you around."

TV Exposure
Have you consciously decided to expose your growing child to 18,000 murders? That is what the average young person will view on television by the time he or she graduates from high school. Your child will have spent approximately 12,000 hours in formal classroom learning but will have watched approximately 22,000 hours of television.
Those figures explain the results of a recent World Almanac poll of 2,000 eighth-grade boys in the United States. The poll asked them which people they wanted to be like when they grew up. Their leading role models were, in order, Burt Reynolds, Richard Pryor, Alan Alda, Steve Martin, Robert Redford, and the late John Belushi. Traditional names such as Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and other noted figures in American history were conspicuously absent from the published list. In fact, no one was named who was not an entertainer or a sports figure.
Whom do your children want to emulate and admire? Will they someday say, "Aw, come on," if you suggest that they should want to be like Jesus? A Lesson From Nature
A man standing on the bank of the Niagara River saw a dead sheep being swept down by the current. An eagle lighted upon that sheep. The body sank for a moment under the weight and then came to the surface again. The day was bitter cold and the wool wrapped around the talons began to freeze. Meantime, the sheep was being swept more and more rapidly toward the falls. But the eagle had not the slightest fear. Had you shouted a warning, he would probably have laughed at you. He would have said, "Do not disturb yourself. Do you not see these great wings? There is not the slightest danger."
By this time, the great falls were but a few feet away. The time for action had come. The eagle spread his great burnished brown wings and fanned the air. But the wings did not lift him. The frozen wool held his talons fast, and while his great wings frantically beat the air, he was swept to his death.
Now there was a time when the eagle could have saved himself. He was not made for such a terrible death. But he held on to the sheep so long that, in the end, he could not let go.
Do not hold on to the world so long that you will not be able to let go! Is Television Harmless?
Richard Nixon's book, In The Arena, has an attention-grabbing paragraph on television:
"Computer specialists have a saying-'Garbage in, garbage out'-which they use when they want to make the point that a computer is only a mechanism for processing information, not creating it. The same principle applies to television. Young people used to learn their lessons from McGuffey's Readers; the baby-boomers learned them from the Beaver and Gilligan. As the postwar generation came of age, it spawned a new generation of TV programmers, who in turn have put more triviality, sex, violence, and bad manners on the air than anyone ever thought possible. Trash TV could only have been created by people who were raised on the tube. 'Garbage in, garbage out.'"
Fabricated "news" programs, "re-enactments," peeping-tom journalism, heavy-metal rock music, slasher movies, and programs which glorify homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle can hardly be considered neutral as they relate to our culture. Soap operas are chock-full of unfaithfulness, vindictiveness, revenge, materialism and murder, while comedy gives way to lewd and suggestive material. Television has become more than a "vast wasteland" in recent years. It is a sinkhole of depravity with eroticism and occultism being fed to us on a daily basis.
It is certainly sub-Christian, and in many cases even sub-human. Harmless? Hardly! Dangerous? Certainly! Fatal? Possibly. The Prodigal Dog
Danny Dodd tells this story:
"Theophilus Kimble was his name. He was a big-footed, clumsy, loud-mouthed mutt of a dog. Smart as he was large, T.K., as we called him, had a way of bringing many valuable lessons to life.
"I remember once he got through the fence. He thought he had invented the trash can. He ran and jumped and bounded over and into everything. He was free at last! All the things that looked so alluring to him in the far regions of the other side of the fence were now his to explore, and explore he did. There was no sign of him for days. I kept a close watch on the local news for a report of a half-crazed, bent-on-examining-the-contents-of-every-trash-can dog, but there was nothing. Just when I thought I had lost him for good to the charms of three-ply Hefties, here he came. He had his tail between his legs, whimpering, wanting to come back home. I let him, of course. He was my dog, and I did care for him regardless of the number of trash cans I had to replace. He was home.
"Does this story sound familiar? It should. T.K. was playing the canine role of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). All of the elements were there: The enticement of the forbidden in a far-off country (the trash cans on the other side of the fence); the opportunity to leave (the open gate); the wasting himself in riotous living (one too many trash cans); The realization of mistake (probably when he missed his Milk Bone); and the humble return."

Limited Vision
The Bible tells of prophets who "err in vision, they stumble in judgment" (Isaiah 28:7) and of those who "find no vision from the Lord" (Lamentations 2:9). Christians are too often like the little boy living in East London who made his first visit to the country. He lay on the grass in the orchard and made a chain of daisies. The swallows flew across the sky.
"Look up, Jimmy. See the pretty birds flying through the air," called his mother. He looked up quickly and in a pitying tone, said, "Poor little birds; they haven't got no cages, have they?"
East London had dwarfed Jimmy's vision. So it is with many professing Christians. They become so occupied with the paltry things of earth that they scorn those who place their affections on things above. Do Not Stay with the Turkeys
There is a story about a little eagle that fell out of its nest and landed in a turkey farm. The eagle grew up among the turkeys and, although he looked a bit different, he learned to waddle like a turkey, bob his head like a turkey, and act like a turkey.
One day the young eagle looked up into the sky and saw a beautiful eagle soaring above. The little eagle in the turkey yard thought, Oh, I would love to be able to do that! As the eagle soared overhead, it looked down and saw the young eagle below. Suddenly it swooped down to the ground and asked, "What are you doing here?"
The little eagle replied, "I am just here in the turkey yard where I have always been."
The great eagle looked and said, "Spread your wings, boy. You do just what I do. Follow me." Then he flapped his wings and lifted off the ground.
The young eagle tried it, too. "Wheeee! This is all right!"
"See," the mature eagle said, "you have been living among these turkeys so long that you were beginning to believe you were something you are not! Follow me, and you will find out what you really are."
So the little eagle began to soar and fly. He loved it. But the turkeys down below called out to him and said, "Hey, little guy, what are you doing up there? You belong down here."
"No, I don't," called the young eagle. "I used to belong there, but now I am what I was created to be. I do not belong with you anymore."

Spiritual Kudzu Vines
In central Georgia and other parts of the South, a common sight is trees completely covered with kudzu vines. Often these lush-green leafy vines completely hide the tree and even small houses.
Although imported to be a ground cover to combat erosion, these vines are now a curse. Covering acres and acres of excellent timber and farmland, they slowly destroy other vegetation. And the kudzu begins as a little seed but is almost impossible to eliminate, once it sets its woody roots.
Spiritual and moral kudzu vines choke our world and hide our true identity. They begin as insignificant seeds of thought and grow into massive systems of destructive thinking, completely distorting and hiding our real nature, even from ourselves. In a parable Jesus warned about weeds that choke the true plant and keep it from bearing fruit. The kudzu vine is not really the tree whose exterior it covers. It is a foreign element so attached to the tree that one could easily mistake it for the tree itself. Is Our Secular Wisdom Foolishness?
"Wisdom" may best describe our present scientific and cultural plateau, yet spiritually we are foolish indeed. Many men, seen as wise in the eyes of the world, are fools in the eyes of our God.
The atheist who audaciously affirms, "I know there is no God," is elevated upon the pedestal of intellectualism and wisdom by the world of pseudo-science, yet God calls him a fool (Psalms 14:1).
Humanists, who deny the existence of sin, and contend that one's conduct should best be determined by the circumstances in which he finds himself, are applauded and lauded as the wise men of our age. God, in no uncertain terms, has said, "Fools make a mock at sin" (Proverbs 14:9).
The world cries out, "Do what makes you feel good; do your own thing!" God has decreed, "He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool" (Proverbs 28:26).
The rich farmer in the twelfth chapter of Luke, who found comfort in his accumulation of worldly goods, would be seen by many among us today as a wise man indeed. God called him a fool (Luke 12:20).
How does God see you, my friend? Our nation seems to be floating with the tide of moral and spiritual corruption. Are you drifting with the tide, or are you willing to stem the tide? I would rather be a fool in the eyes of a foolish world, than a fool in the eyes of my all-wise Creator.

Junk Thoughts
Similar to junk food-tasty and fun but of little value and ultimately damaging-are the secular messages sent to our brains en masse every day. Take, for example, the message offered by a recent television ad campaign: "Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get." To the average listener (Christian or non-Christian) this pleasantly presented axiom is tasty, pithy, memorable-and classic junk food for the brain. The "principle" stated in the axiom is diametrically opposed to Scripture. Yet if we hear the message often enough, before long we may find ourselves not only believing it, but living also it out, like all the pagans around us.
This is but one example of hundreds of junk food thoughts offered us every day. In fact, if we ever hope to think correctly about the danger of receiving "junk thoughts" from the world system, we need to understand that during the past decades, North America has changed its mind dramatically. Culturally, it has moved from thinking patterns based on Scripture to a decidedly secular pattern of thought.
Intellectually, it has rejected thinking processes based on objective biblical evidence to foregone conclusions that automatically exclude the supernatural. Philosophically, it has moved away from the concepts of truth, morality, ethics, and virtue toward the belief that there are no absolutes and that everything is relative.
Unfortunately, the way Christians think has moved, too.

Four Woes
Maybe something does get lost in the translation, but a trained mule will stop when he hears "Whoa!" At least we might stop and listen to Jesus' four "Woes" and take them to heart.
WOE TO THE RICH! Jesus is not condemning wealth, money, or resources. His condemnation is in the trust we often put in our riches. The rich young ruler went away sorrowfully because he "had great wealth." He cared more for his "belongings" than he cared for "belonging."
WOE TO THE WELL FED! No, it is not wrong to eat. It is not even a sin to enjoy good food. But it is sinful to "live to eat" rather than "eating to live." Many are becoming gluttons. Affluence brings with it the temptation to over-indulge. Beware!
WOE TO THOSE WHO LAUGH! Is Jesus condemning a funny bone? It is doubtful. But He does remind us that life is serious business. We are not here simply to "eat, drink, and be merry." There must be time to mourn. One can rejoice in the Lord without childish levity. Christianity is solemn commitment.
WOE TO YOU WHEN ALL MEN SPEAK WELL OF YOU! Even Jesus made enemies. When everybody thinks you are "simply marvelous" you must be doing something wrong. God did not put us on planet earth to win popularity contests. We are here to serve, love and worship. Not everybody appreciates that. Satan hates it!
To the rich, the stuffed, the laughing, and the ever-popular, Jesus reminds us to remember who put us here, why we are here and where we are going.
Woe to us if we miss it!

Time to Think
"Will the hassle never end?" One senses that this is more and more a feeling which is becoming a way of life to the majority of us in this country. What has happened? We have let ourselves be swept along in the current of modern society and culture until we are almost swallowed up. We have been molded into place by machines, schedules, neurotic activity, peer pressures, and "little league" activities of all sorts. Family units seem to be more individual units living under the same roof. Could it be we only have a form of that which God intended and that modern society has gutted our spiritual house? It is possible! What is to be done?
First of all, it is time to take time to think. We do so little of that these days. No one needs to think as long as he is swept along in the stream of routine, never-ending activity. Get out of the stream, on the bank, and think. Stop right now and think.
O.K. Here I am. What am I supposed to think about? The following suggestions are offered by Gary D. Taliaferro:
Think about God's love and power and how they have affected your life.
Think of your family and all the natural gifts and resources He has given you.
Think about and enumerate what the components of His kind of life are in your world and in the life you are living.
Think about a growing tree, the birds flying south at winter, the process of a bee making honey.
Think about a boy learning from his father about the wonders of life and of creative work.
Think about a day without any yelling and screaming and hassle.
Think about how your life in your world and family can incorporate the quiet serenity of Jesus Christ.
Think and control your life in harmony with God and not be gobbled up by this present world.
Remember, Jesus said through the Apostle Paul, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2).

Avoid Contamination
If a cube of lead is placed on a cube of gold, the two metals slowly but inevitably begin to penetrate each other. In the same manner we tend to imbibe the spirit, to share the opinions, to partake of the qualities of our intimate associates. Though we may believe that our gold will enrich their lead, the opposite is far more likely to prove true-their lead will debase our gold. That is why the Psalmist said, "Depart from me, ye evil doers, that I may keep the commandments of my God" (Psalms 119:115).

Church Tramps
A young man left the church of his parents for another church. Someone asked, "What was the matter with the church you left?" "Nothing," he answered, "except they do a lot more for a fellow at the church where I'm going. They give you a splendid present at Christmas, a social with refreshments once a month, and a chance to get in with folk who can help you socially." That was his idea of the mission of the Church. It was not long, however, before he changed churches again. The same man asked him why. "Oh, they did not re-elect me president of the social league of the church, and I won't stand for being slighted." That is what Paul would call a carnal Christian.

Following Dual Paths
Kapitango Kusita, an evangelist overseer of an African Church, was talking about following the "white" path, and the "white" path only. It was night, and a crowd of natives sat around the campfire. A native dog passed between the fire and the listeners. "Look at that dog! How many legs has it?" asked the preacher. "Four," came the reply. "Yes, four indeed," retorted Kapitango, "but have you ever seen the four legs of a dog trying to follow more than one path at a time? No, no! The four all go together; yet people with only two legs try to follow two paths: Christ and the world, God and mammon." The White Dress
A group of young people were about to explore a coal mine. One of the girls was wearing a white dress. A friend urged her to go home and change. Not liking the interference, she turned to the guide who was to conduct them and asked, "Can't I wear a white dress to go into the mine?" "Yes, ma'am," was his reply. "There's nothing to keep you from wearing a white dress down into the mine, but there'll be plenty to keep you from wearing one back."