Worldliness in Christian preaching highlights the danger of valuing earthly appearances, possessions, and pleasures above spiritual truth and godly character (1 John 2:15-17). Illustrations often use images of emptiness, entrapment, and contamination to show how worldly pursuits choke spiritual life and limit vision, urging believers to seek lasting faithfulness and freedom in Christ (Romans 12:2).
External appearances can deceive; true worth is not in outward status or clothes.
The story is told of a Persian prince who, dressed as a poor man, went to a feast. He was pushed about, could not get to the table, and soon had to withdraw. He went home, dressed himself in his best cloth-of-gold robe and jewelled slippers, and returned to the feast. The guests made room for him, and the host rushing up cried, "Welcome, my lord! What will your lordship please to eat?" The prince stuck out his jewelled foot and said in a mocking tone, "Welcome, my lord slipper!" Then fingering his golden robe, "Welcome, my lord robe! What will your lordship please to eat?" Turning to his surprised host he said, "You ought to ask my lordly clothes what they would like to eat since the welcome was solely to them."
Being rescued requires willingness to leave worldly comfort and accept help.
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."
Worldly pleasures and success are empty and cannot satisfy the soul.
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?"
External appearance without faithful service is empty and ineffective for God.
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."
Life's value is not in possessions but in simplicity and dependence on God.
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."
Demas forsook Paul for the world, showing the cost of loving comfort over faithfulness.
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."
Television exposure shapes youth role models away from godly examples toward entertainers and sports figures.
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."
Like an eagle raised among turkeys, Christians can adopt limited, worldly perspectives instead of soaring spiritually.
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 and moral falsehoods grow like kudzu, choking true faith and hiding our real identity in Christ.
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.
Secular, worldly ideas are like junk food for the mind, undermining biblical truth and Christian thinking.
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.
Jesus' four woes warn against trusting riches, overindulgence, frivolity, and craving human approval.
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!
In a busy world, Christians must take time to reflect on God's love and their spiritual life.
"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).
Like metals mixing, close association with evil corrupts the godly; separation preserves holiness.
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).
Some treat church like a social club, showing carnality rather than true spiritual commitment.
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.
Trying to follow both Christ and the world is impossible, like a dog on two 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."
Earthly treasures pale compared to heavenly treasures, urging right priorities.
I remember when I went to California just to try and get a few souls saved on the Pacific coast, I went into a school there and asked, "Have you got some one who can write a plain hand?" "Yes." Well, we got up the blackboard, and the lesson upon it proved to be the very text we have to-night. "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven." And I said, "Suppose we write upon that board some of the earthly treasures? And we will begin with 'gold.'" The teacher readily put down gold, and they all comprehended it, for all had run to that country in the hope of finding it. "Well, we will put down 'houses' next, and then 'land.' Next we will put down 'fast horses.'" They all understood what fast horses were--they knew a good deal more about fast horses than they knew about the kingdom of God. Some of them, I think, actually made fast horses serve as Gods. "Next we will put down 'tobacco.'" The teacher seemed to shrink at this. "Put it down," said I, "many a man thinks more of tobacco than he does of God. Well, then, we will put down 'rum.'" He objected to this--didn't like to put it down at all. "Down with it. Many a man will sell his reputation, will sell his home, his wife, his children, everything he has, for rum. It is the God of some men. Many here in Chicago will sell their present and then eternal welfare for it. Put it down," and down it went. "Now," said I, "suppose we put down some of the heavenly treasures. Put down 'Jesus' to head the list, then 'heaven,' then 'River of Life,' then 'Crown of Glory,' and went on till the column was filled, and then just drew a line and showed the heavenly and the earthly things in contrast. My friends, they could not stand comparison. If a man just does that, he cannot but see the superiority of the heavenly over the earthly treasures. Well, it turned out that the teacher was not a Christian. He had gone to California on the usual hunt--gold; and when he saw the two columns placed side by side, the excellence of the one over the other was irresistible, and he was the first soul God gave me on that Pacific coast. He accepted Christ, and that man came to the station when I was coming away and blessed me for coming to that place.
Earthly honors mask the doom of the ungodly led to eternal judgment.
"The heathen were wont to hang garlands around the necks of the beasts which were about to be slain at the altar, and to crown them with roses as they led them to sacrifice." Many are thus decked with the ornaments of wealth and mirth who are on the way to the slaughter. Ungodly men may be garlanded with social distinctions, scientific attainments, and courtly honours, and yet be no better than bullocks devoted to the axe, at the altar of the god of this world. How little availed the roses to the creature doomed to die! If men were wise they would regard with equal disesteem those earthly honours and possessions which do but deck out a condemned criminal, and adorn a wretch over whom the wrath of God is hovering. O silly men, to rejoice in the tokens of your destruction, and to glory in your shame! Lord, it is better to bear thy cross, and march heavenward with the blessed burden, than to be smothered in flowery pleasures and to be led down to hell. I pray thee, bring my unregenerate neighbours to be of the same mind.
Earthly ambitions are fleeting and empty compared to eternal pursuits.
"As children catch at butterflies the gaudy wings melt away in their fingers, and there remaineth nothing but an ugly worm." Such is the end of all earthly ambitions: they cost us a weary pursuit, and if we gain our desire it is destroyed in the grasping of it. Alas, poor rich man, who has wealth but has lost the power to enjoy it! Alas, poor famous man, who in hunting for honour has learned its emptiness! Alas, poor beautiful woman, who in making a conquest of a false heart has pierced her own with undying sorrow! A butterfly-hunt takes a child into danger, wearies him, throws him down, and often ends in his missing the pretty insect: if, however, the boy is able to knock down his victim with his hat, he has crushed the beauty for which he undertook the chase, and his victory defeats him. The parallel is clear to every eye. For my part, let me sooner be the schoolboy,
dashing after the painted fly, than his father worrying and wearying to snatch at something more deceptive still. Lord, it is time I had done with all butterfly-hunting, for my years are warning me that I may hope soon to be among the angels, and see greater beauties than this whole creation can set before me. I am now bent on pursuing nothing but that which is eternal and infinite. Keep me to this resolve, I pray thee.
Worldly adornment cannot provide true warmth or satisfaction.
A Quaker gentleman, riding in a carriage with a fashionable lady decked with a profusion of jewelry, heard her complain of the cold. Shivering in her lace bonnet and shawl as light as cobweb, she exclaimed, —
"What shall I do to get warm?"
"I really don't know," replied the Quaker solemnly, "unless thee should put on another breast-pin!"
People often focus on earthly things and neglect thoughts of heavenly goodness.
It is storied of Henry the Fourth of France asking the Duke of Alva if he had observed the eclipses happening in that year: he answered, that he had so much business on earth, that he had no leisure to look up to heaven. So it is. Most men are of this Spanish general's mind: witness the oxen, the farms, the pleasures, the profits and preferments, that men are so fast glued unto, that they have hardly leisure to entertain a thought of any goodness. Spencer.
Ulysses avoided deadly temptation by wise precautions against enchanting but destructive allurements.
The Sirens were sea-nymphs who had the power of charming by their song all who heard them. The listener was seized with an irresistible desire to cast himself into the sea to his destruction. Ulysses passing their coast, for safety filled the ears of his seamen with wax, and caused himself to be bound firmly to the mast, with directions to his sailors to bind him even more firmly, though in passing the island he should order otherwise. As they approached the enchanting coast, most ravi-ling music came over the waters, so that Ulysses struggled and begged to be unloosed: but they only bound him more tightly. When they had passed beyond the sound of the music, Ulysses' wisdom returned to him. He was unbound and the sailors' ears were unsealed.
Yielding to worldly allurements can lead to sudden and tragic destruction.
Travellers who visit the Falls of Niagara are directed to a spot on the margin of the precipice over the boiling current below, where a gay young lady, a few years since, lost her life. She was delighted with the wonders of the unrivalled scene, and ambitious to pluck a flower from a cliff where no human hand had before ventured, as a memorial of the cataract and her own daring. She leaned over the verge, and caught a glimpse of the surging waters far down the battlement of rocks, while fear for a moment darkened her excited mind. But there hung the lovely blossom upon which her heart was fixed; and she leaned, in a delirium of intense desire and anticipation, over the brink. Her arm was outstretched to grasp the beautiful flower which charmed her fancy; the turf yielded to the pressure of her feet; and, with a shriek, she descended like a falling star to the rocky shore, and was borne away, gasping in death.
Death humbles worldly ambition, showing how little the body holds after life ends.
Philip of Macedon, wrestling in the games, was thrown in the sand. Rising, he saw the marks of his body, and exclaimed, "How little a parcel of earth will hold us, when we are dead, who are ambitiously seeking after the whole world while living!"
Great rulers died in defeat or despair despite worldly conquests and power.
Take the four greatest rulers, perhaps, that ever sat upon a throne. Alexander, when he had so completely subdued the nations that he wept because there were no more to conquer, at last set fire to a city, and died in a scene of debauch. Hannibal, who filled three bushels with the gold rings taken from the slaughtered knights, died at last by poison administered by his own hand, unwept and unknown, in a foreign land. Caesar, having conquered eight hundred cities, and dyed his garments with the blood of one million of his foes, was stabbed by his best friends in the very place which had been the scene of his greatest triumph. Napoleon, after being the scourge of Europe, and the desolator of his country, died in banishment, conquered and a captive. Downs.
Ambition enslaves a man to many masters, not just one.
A slave has but one master: the ambitious man has as many masters as there are persons whose aid may contribute to the advancement of his fortunes.
— La Bruyère
Worldly ambition leaves men unhappy and unsupported like a plant without a prop.
Look at the tender climbing plant of summer: it takes hold of some object, and creeps along upward till its tendrils shoot high and beautifully into the air; but the prop is taken away, and there it stands, reaching out its fingers for something to fasten upon: full of life and vigor still, but sinking because its support is taken away, and falling like a worthless weed to the ground. Such even at the very moment of its greatest vigor is often the state of those who seek worldly greatness. Look at all history: when were it great men so wretched, as when they had attained the highest point of exaltation? "He has gained every thing," said a companion of Napoleon, when he was in the zenith of prosperity, "and yet he is unhappy." Lewis.
Ambition is ultimately vain, like a shadow's shadow or a mere dream.
Dreams indeed are ambition, for the very substance of the ambitions is merely the shadow of a dream. And I hold ambition of so light a quality that it is but a shadow's shadow. Shakespeare.
Frequenting worldly amusements can lead to physical and spiritual decline.
I was employing a very respectable woman a few days to do some work for me, and one evening she said to me, "You must please to let me off earlier to-night, ma'am, I am going to the ball." — "To the ball!" I exclaimed in amazement, — "to the ball!" — "Yes," she said; "I am at all the balls." I could not understand her; for, never going to such places myself, I am somewhat ignorant of what goes on. So she went on to say, "I am keeper of the china, and am teamaker: so I am obliged to be there; and I shall not get to bed before six o'clock to-morrow morning. O ma'am!" she added, "it's a dreadful life! I have seen young ladies when they first came to this town, looking so bright, their cheeks so rosy, their eyes so dancing with joy, and, before the winter is over, I have not known them, they look so old and pale and haggard and miserable." S. S. Peachers' Journal.
Refusing worldly events for eternal priorities reflects true faithfulness.
When the late Dr. Milne of China was a working tradesman at Leith Hall, the seat of the late Gen. Hay in Aberdeenshire, he was ever ready to act out John Newton's principle: "I make it a rule of Christian duty never to go to a place where there is not room for my Master as well as myself." It so happened, that on one occasion, when a hall was to be given in honor of some family event, orders were issued to send invitations to every person on the estate. When the grieve received the name of William Milne, he said to the steward, "You need not invite Milne, he won't come: balls don't do with his religion."—"But you can take the invitation, whether he accepts it or not," replied the steward; "for my instructions are to invite all." The grieve sent the message to William Milne, who, on receiving it, gravely said, "Tell the grieve, that, when William Milne has no work for eternity, he will attend to balls." The answer was an arrow from the quiver of divine truth. It pierced his heart; and he could get no peace until it was withdrawn by the Great Physician, and the balm of Gilead applied. Dr. Wise.
Sinful beauty can become destructive, turning others to spiritual death like Medusa's gaze.
According to mythology, Medusa was a maiden of such rare beauty as to provoke the Goddess Minerva to jealousy; and on this account she was transformed into a frightful monster. Her admired ringlets became hissing serpents, and no living thing could look upon her without being turned into stone. All around the cavern where she dwelt might be seen the stony figures of men and animals who had chanced to catch a glimpse of her, and had been petrified with the sight.
A seasoned player advises a youth to burn cards, highlighting their spiritual worthlessness.
A young man who had just learned to play cards was so elated with his first success, that he went out and bought a pack. He called, on his way home, and showed them to an old player, who had spent the best part of his life in this senseless employment. He fingered them over familiarly for a moment, and then returned them, saying, "You had better go home and burn them." The young man was amazed at such advice from such a source, and it set him to thinking seriously. Surely if any one was competent to judge of the worthlessness of such pursuits, he was; and his opinion made so deep an impression upon the mind of the youth, that he never played again.
Restless curiosity leads to dissatisfaction and constant change without peace.
As men having a report of the pleasure and abundance of any strange country are never quiet till they have seen it; but they have not been there a year till they are in greater dislike with it than they were with their native soil; for, though they change the air, they never alter their nature; their minds are as full of fancies as ever they were: so are such as are possessed of wandering cogitations, who must needs be of every trade, and change their opinions as often as they do their garments, having one foot in the court, and another in the country; they no sooner undertake any thing than they are weary of it, and no sooner give it over than they would forthwith take it up again. Caudray.
Even untutored people can excel in worldly amusements, questioning their value.
A newspaper correspondent says, "I have seen a negro-boy of seven years old, without the first elements of an education, dance with a grace and agility of motion that would put to blush the brightest star of the fashionable ball-room. The most accomplished dancers in the world are untutored savages, who practise, in a state of nudity, around their camp-fires. What special incentive, then, can a cultivated, intellectual, refined youth have to waste precious time in an amusement in which, after all, he may be surpassed by a rude Hottentot, or even by an ape!"
Eastern dancing rituals reflect cultural joy and celebration tied to nature's cycles.
Irwin, in his "Voyage up the Red Sea," says, "We were awakened from our first sleep by the sounds of tinkling instruments, accompanied by a chorus of female voices. I looked out of the window, and saw a band of thirty damsels, at least, come tripping towards us, with measured paces and animated gestures. The moon shone very bright; and we had a full view of them, from their entering the gate of our street, until they reached our house. Here they stopped, and, spreading themselves in a circle before the door, renewed the dance and song with infinite spirit, and recalled to our minds the picture which is so fully given of these dancing females in Holy Writ. After they had favored us a few minutes with their lively performance, they moved on to the hakeem's house; and, serenading him with an air or two, this joyous band quitted our quarter, and went, as the dying sounds informed us, to awaken the other slumberers of the town to melody and joy. We were impatient to know the cause of the agreeable disturbance we met with last night, and learned from one of our guard, that the dancing girls observe the ceremony we were witness to on the first visible rise of the Nile. It seems that they took our house in the way to the river, where they went down to bathe at that late hour, and to sing the praises of the benevolent Power who yearly distributes his waters to supply the necessities of the natives."
Worldly desires grow endlessly and never satisfy the heart's true needs.
The countryman in the fable would needs stay till the river was all run away, and then go over dry-shod; but the river did run on still, and he was deceived in his expectation. Such are the worldling's inordinate desires. The deceitful heart promiscuous to see them run over and gone when they are attained to such a measure; and then they are stronger and wider, more impotent and unruly, than before; for a covetous heart grasps at no less than the whole world, would fain be master of all, and dwell alone, like a wen in the body, which draws all to itself. Let it have never so much, it will reach after more, add house to house, and field to field, till there be no more place to compass. Like a bladder, it swells wider and wider, the more of this empty world is put into it: so boundless, so endless, so inordinate, are the corrupt desires of worldly-minded men! Spencer.
Proverbs illustrate human tendency to desire what is unattainable or forbidden.
There is no pleasure but pails, and all the more if it costs nothing. — Spanish. — The sweet grapes hang highest. — German. — Every fish that escapes appears greater than it is. — Turkish. — A man who can't sing is always striving to sing. — Latin. — He who can't do always wants to do. — Italian. — Forbid a fool any thing, and that he'll do. English.
Worldly desires can trap and immobilize like an eagle frozen to ice by its own indulgence.
An eagle, flying over a valley of ice, discovered a carcass, upon which it descended, and feasted so long, that its wings became frozen to the ice. In vain it struggled to mount upward: a vivid emblem of worldly desires.
A man’s love of costly dress reveals worldly pride and self-centeredness.
A man, following the occupation of wood-cutting, wrought with exemplary zeal the six working-days, hoarding every cent not required to furnish him with the most frugal fare. As his "pile" increased, he invested it in gold ornaments, — watch-chain of massive links, shirt and sleeve buttons, shoe-buckles, then buttons for vest and coat, a hat-hand of the precious metal, a heavy gold-headed cane; and, in short, wherever an ounce of it could be bestowed upon his person, in or out of taste, it was done. The glory of his life, his sole ambition, was to don this curious attire (which was deposited for safe keeping during the week in one of the banks) on Sunday morning, and then spend the day, the "observed of all observers," lounging about the office or bar-room of the St. Charles. He never drank, and rarely spoke. Mystery seemed to envelop him. No one knew whence he came, or the origin of his innocent whim. Old citizens assured you, that, year after year, his narrow savings were measured by the increase of his ornaments, until at length the value of the anomalous garments came to be estimated by thousands of dollars. By ten o'clock on Sunday night, the exhibition was closed. His one day of self-gratification enjoyed, his costly wardrobe was returned to the bank-vault, and he came back into the obscurity of a wood-chopper. W. H. Milburn.
The swallow’s joyful travels illustrate a carefree, worldly ease and social grace.
Behold the graceful and sprightly swallow, zig-zagging over the clover-field, skimming the limpid lake, whisking round the steeple, or dancing gayly in the sky! Behold him, in high spirits, shrieking out his ecstasy as he has bolted a dragon-tly, or darted through the arrow-slits of an old turret, or performed some other feat of hirundine agility! And notice how he pays his morning visits, alighting elegantly on some housetop, and twittering politely, by turns, to the swallows on either side of him; and, after five minutes' conversation, off and away to call for his friend at the castle. And now he has gone upon his travels, — gone to spend the winter at Rome or Naples; to visit Egypt or the Holy Land, or perform some more recherché pilgrimage to Spain or the coasts of Barbary. And, when he comes home next April, sure enough he has been abroad: charming climate, highly delighted with the cicadas in Italy, and the bees on Hymettus; locusts in Africa rather scarce this season; but, upon the whole, much pleased with his trip, and returned in high health and spirits. Robert Hamilton.
Many prefer a comfortable, superficial faith rather than true, costly discipleship.
We love well summer religion, and to be that which sin has made us, — even as thin skinned as if we were made of white paper, and fain be carried to heaven in a close-covered chariot, wishing from our hearts that Christ would give us surety and his handwriting and his seal for nothing but a fair summer, until we be landed in at heaven's gates. Rutherford.
A letter addressed broadly still reached its destination, showing fame's wide but uncertain reach.
Boerhaave once received a letter from China, directed "To the Illustrious Boerhaave, Europe," which reached him as safely as if it had been addressed to Leyden, Holland, his place of residence.
True renown is posthumous, unlike fleeting immediate popularity and applause.
The noblest renown is posthumous fame; and the most refined ambition is the desire of such fame. A vulgar mind may thirst for immediate popularity; and very moderate talent, dexterously managed, may win, for the moment, the hosannas of the million. But it is a Horace or a Milton, a Socrates or a Sidney, who can listen without bitterness to plaudits heaped on feelder rivals, and calmly anticipate the day when posterity will do justice to the powers or the achievements of which he is already conscious. Dr. J. Hamilton.
Fame is depicted as a cold, unjust palace where honors are arbitrarily given.
Chaucer, in his "House of Fame," represents it as a magnificent palace, situated upon a mountain of ice, and supported by rows of pillars, on which are inscribed the names of those whom the capricious goddess Fame decides to honor. In this chilly atmosphere, the despotic goddess holds her court, and decrees her unsatisfying and unjust favors.
Without a lasting memorial, a person's fame lasts only as long as immediate mourning.
If a man do not erect in this age his own tomb, ere he dies, he shall live no longer in monument than the bell rings and the widow weeps. Shakespeare.
Alexander's quest for the world contrasts with the philosopher's desire for brief immortality.
Alexander being much taken with the answers of Diogenes, bade him ask what he would, and he should have it. The philosopher demanded the least proportion of immortality. "That is not in my gift," says Alexander. "No," quoth Diogenes; "then why doth Alexander take such pains to conquer the world, when he cannot assure himself of one moment to enjoy it?"
Fame is like a river that lifts the light and drowns the solid, illustrating its vanity.
FAME, Vanity of Fame is like a river, that beareth up things light and swollen, and drowns things weighty and solid. Lord Bacon.
People blindly follow trends just as sheep follow one another without reason.
We laugh heartily to see a whole flock of sheep jump because one did so: might not one imagine that superior beings do the same by us, and for exactly the same reason? Greville.
Waiting to follow fashion shows foolishness despite having resources to act.
The English have always been proverbial for their caprice in dress; and Lucas de Heere, who represented an Englishman in a state of nudity, with cloth and shears near him, yet at a loss what to do with them, justly ridiculed the national foible. The Italians have a story, which formed, in all probability, the basis of De Heere's jest. A man, they say, who was supposed to be an idiot, ran about the streets naked, carrying a piece of cloth upon his shoulders. When he was asked why he did not dress himself, since he had the materials, he replied, "Because I wait to see in what manner the fashions will end." Percy.
Church fashion distracts from God and keeps many from worship and salvation.
If you wish to see the latest fashions, go to church. Rustling silks, expensive millinery, jewels, and gold abound there. The want of such trifles has kept many an otherwise sensible woman from church. There is far more attention to appearances before men than before God. How many souls is fashion shutting out of heaven!
A costly fashion sparked industrious generosity benefiting many beyond vanity.
The skipper of a shallop employed between Capo May and Philadelphia had done us some small service, for which he refused to be paid. My wife, understanding that he had a daughter, sent her a present of a new-fashioned cap. Three years after, this skipper, being at my house with an old farmer of Cape May, his passenger, he mentioned the cap, and bow much his daughter had been pleased with it. "But," said he, "it proved a dear cap to our congregation."—"How so?"—"When my daughter appeared with it at meeting, it was so much admired, that all the girls resolved to get such caps from Philadelphia; and my wife and I computed that the whole could not have cost less than a hundred pounds."—"True," said the farmer; "but you do not tell all the story. I think the cap was, nevertheless, an advantage to us; for it was the first thing that put our girls upon knitting worsted mittens for sale at Philadelphia, that they might have wherewithal to buy caps and ribbons there; and you know that this industry has continued, and is likely to continue, and increase to a much greater value, and to answer better purposes. Upon the whole, I was more reconciled to this little piece of luxury, since not only the girls were made happier by having fine caps, but the Philadelphians by the supply of warm mittens."
— Dr. Franklin
